Rotten to the Core
by Nightflame203
Summary: My name is Michael the platypus. My father is Agent P, O.W.C.A's top agent. My life hasn't exactly been the simplest or the kindest. But my old problems were just the beginning... Sequel to Three Platypi and an Evil Organization, Perry/OC, OC/OC, can be AU if you want. WARNING: CONATAINS SPOILERS FOR LYDIA. READ AT YOUR OWN RISK.
1. Prologue

**Like I said, I was posting it tonight! ;P ;P ;P ;P ;P So, the first story was third person, this one's first person.**

 _ **PLEASE READ**_ **: I have said it in my profile, but I am aware how long and rambly it is, so I'll just say it again, in different wording. This story delves very deep into age, so I wanted you to know. IN ALL OF MY PNF STORIES, PLATYPUS YEARS EQUALS HUMAN YEARS, THIS STORY INCLUDED**

 **I hope you enjoy!**

 **I DO NOT OWN PHINEAS AND FERB. ANY CHARACTER YOU DO NOT RECOGNIZE IS PROBABLY MINE**

My name is Michael the platypus. I'm an agent at the O.W.C.A. The Organization Without A Cool Acronym.

I suppose it's a better acronym than L.O.V.E.M.U.F.F.I.N. Fitting, too, because O.W.C.A. is the good side. L.O.V.E.M.U.F.F.I.N. stands for League Of Villainous Evildoers Maniacally United For Frightening Investments in Naughtiness.

How do I know all this? Know your enemy. And it's good to understand your own side, too.

When I was only a few days old, I was stolen from my parents. Can you guess by who? L.O.V.E.M.U.F.F.I.N.

They raised me, taught me that they were the good guys and that O.W.C.A. was the bad. And I believed it.

L.O.V.E.M.U.F.F.I.N. claimed to have saved me. Now I understand their true intentions. They wanted me on their side because my father is Agent P. O.W.C.A's top agent.

When I was four years old, everyone I was trained with and I attacked O.W.C.A. That was when I reunited with my parents. It wasn't a happy reunion; I hated them. Everything Mom and Dad taught was different from what I had learned from L.O.V.E.M.U.F.F.I.N. I didn't know what to believe anymore.

Until the final battle. O.W.C.A. versus L.O.V.E.M.U.F.F.I.N, and I was stuck in the middle. Literally and metaphorically. I couldn't hold off making my decision anymore. I had to choose which side I was on. I chose O.W.C.A's.

We won. Dennis the rabbit- the leader of L.O.V.E.M.U.F.F.I.N- was re-arrested and taken back to his jail cell in the O.W.C.A-Traz. The rest of L.O.V.E.M.U.F.F.I.N. scattered and vanished.

It's been nine years since then. I'm thirteen now. I used to think that L.O.V.E.M.U.F.F.I.N. stole my childhood from me; that they forced me to grow up in four years. Living with my real family has proven me wrong.

It wasn't like I was miserable living with L.O.V.E.M.U.F.F.I.N; I had a few friends. Daisy, Leo, and Courtney. We formed our own little gang.

Daisy the dog attacked the American division with me when I was four. Leo and Courtney were assigned to a different division. Daisy is a brown dog- of some kind, I don't know what breed- with brown eyes. When we attacked my parents' division, I noticed how much she looked like one of the agents there.

Then there was Leo the lizard. He was very good at the parkour training; top in the class. When I was younger- less than a year old- I thought that nothing could break through his scaly green skin.

Courtney the rabbit. A milky-white lagomorph with sapphire blue eyes and indescribably soft fur. I had no idea until I was four, but her father was Dennis the rabbit. An enemy of my father.

I- as I already said- am a platypus. I have teal fur, a tangerine colored beak, and chocolate brown eyes. Everyone tells me I look exactly like my father. That used to be an insult. Now it's my favorite compliment.

I already said that my dad is Agent P, O.W.C.A's top agent. My mother is also an O.W.C.A. agent of a pretty high rank. She's Agent Pixie.

I also have a little sister; she is four years younger than me. Her name's Emily. She's nine years old.

Emily hatched- or was born, it depends how you want to look at it, I guess- while I was still on L.O.V.E.M.U.F.F.I.N's side. She didn't deal with what I did; Mom and Dad raised Emily her entire life.

I know I shouldn't, but I can't help but feel jealous of Emily occasionally. She never got separated from Mom and Dad; she was never told that no one cared for her. Mom pretty much never left Emily's side for weeks; I didn't see my parents for four years.

Anyway, Emily's also part of O.W.C.A, but she's still in training.

My life has basically followed one routine for nine years: wake up, go to O.W.C.A's HQ, help train Emily and the other AITs, occasionally fight villains- not all villains are part of L.O.V.E.M.U.F.F.I.N- and then spend time with everyone living in my house.

That was my daily routine. Until the night my life changed forever.

 ***sniffles* you will noticed within the next few chapters how grown up all the characters are. Emily was an infant at the end of the first story. It's been nine years since then….**


	2. Chapter 1

**I have to give this a short AN, not much time left in my day ;P ;P THIS IS THE CHAPTER WHERE YOU GET THE MOST SPOILERS ON** **LYDIA**

 **I DO NOT WON PHINEAS AND FERB. ANY CHARACTER YOU DO NOT RECOGNIZE IS PROBABLY MINE**

 **(Michael's POV)**

A very loud bang; that's what woke me. I immediately sat up, and Michael sat up next to me. Yep, two Michaels living in the same house. Me and him.

The difference between us is we're two different species; I'm a platypus, he's a human. And I'm five years older than him. Michael's only eight.

Michael isn't the only eight year-old living in the house, either. He has a twin sister. Annie. She sleeps upstairs in the room that apparently used to be Candace's. That's where Emily sleeps, too.

Linda and Lawrence Flynn-Fletcher have stayed in the same bedroom since I moved in with my family. Probably a lot longer than that, actually. Phineas, Ferb, and Candace moved out years ago.

Mom and Dad still sleep in what used to be Phineas and Ferb's room. The boys' beds were put in storage in the attic, and replaced with one queen-sized bed. That's where Annie and Michael's parents sleep.

Footsteps pounding down the stairs brought me out of my thoughts. Mom and Dad came first, and Lydia followed close behind. Emily, Annie, and Caleb- Annie and Michael's father- were a bit slower. Linda and Lawrence just walked down.

Michael got up out of bed and ran for the light-switch, but it turned on before he got there. The eight year-old turned to the group, a confused look on his face. Lydia smiled at him.

The downstairs lights all flickered on, and I realized Lydia must have used her magic. I got up and walked to my parents. "Something must have triggered the Home Security System."

Most families have a security system as simple as a burglar alarm. Our house is different.

Five targets living under the same roof. Mom and Dad are top agents at O.W.C.A, case closed. Emily is an Agent In Training and Agent P's daughter. Lydia has made quite a few enemies during her life, and then there's me. Traitor to L.O.V.E.M.U.F.F.I.N, son of Agent P and Agent Pixie.

With half of us targets, we need more than just one alarm. We have cages set up, alarms around the whole house, even security cameras- literally invisible, thanks to Lydia.

"That was the sound of metal clanging against a hard surface," Lydia thought out loud. "Must've been the cages."

She walked over to the kitchen and rounded the corner of the counter. "Which means- yep! Here they are!"

Annie followed Lydia immediately, then she grabbed Lydia's legs. Lydia bent down and murmured something in the little girl's ear, and Annie ran back to the staircase, watching from there.

As soon as I rounded the corner, I gasped. _It can't be._

In the three cages were three animals. A brown female dog, a male green lizard, and a milky-white, female rabbit.

As soon as they saw me, they looked up and glared. "Back-stabber," the dog growled.

"Double-crosser," the lizard snapped.

"Traitor!" the rabbit seethed.

"Buddies of yours?" Lydia asked, looking down at me.

"Ex-friends."

Lydia waved her hand, and suddenly the three animals collapsed on the ground.

"What did you do?" I gulped.

Lydia shrugged innocently. "They just had a sudden need for a deep sleep. Say, twenty-four hours."

My father, Perry, chuckled behind me.

Lydia bent down on her knees and held her hand over Courtney's head, eyes closed.

"What's she doing?" Michael asked Caleb curiously.

"She's reading their memories," Caleb quietly replied to his son.

I turned to my parents. "Why did it have to be them, of all possible choices?"

Pixie, my mother, held out her arms and I hugged her. Nine years ago I would've rejected her, possibly even yelled at her, but not anymore.

I heard Lydia's voice. "It was no coincidence that they were chosen," she said darkly. I turned back around to face her. "L.O.V.E.M.U.F.F.I.N. is aware of your previous friendship, so they sent these three in hopes they could trick you into following them. Straight into a trap."

"Three enemies of O.W.C.A," Perry murmured. "When are we taking them to the prison?"

"Tomorrow morning," Lydia replied promptly.

She turned to Michael and looked over at Annie. "And you two need to get back to bed, it's the middle of the night."

I blinked. Sometimes it was difficult to remember that Lydia is Annie and Michael's mother. I don't know if Lydia named her son after me, or if it's just what she's wanted to name her son since she was a girl. Either way I'm fine; it's a great name.

"But I'm not tired," the twins whined in unison.

Lydia and Caleb turned to each other; I saw a mischievous glance pass between them. They got closer to each other and kissed.

Annie and Michael both exclaimed something- not of words- in disgust, then shouted "Good night!"

Michael hopped back into bed, pulled the cover up over him, then closed his eyes. Annie ran the rest of the way up the stairs; I could hear footsteps run down the hall.

Lydia and Caleb laughed when they broke apart. "Works every time," Lydia murmured in an amused tone.

Pixie turned to Emily. "You need to be getting back to sleep also."

"But, Mom," Emily complained, "I can handle this. I'm an AIT."

"You need to get your rest for training tomorrow," Pixie replied.

Emily sighed and began walking up the stairs. "Okay, good night."

Linda and Lawrence had wordlessly walked back up the stairs- apparently, counting the fact I didn't see them anymore.

Lydia turned to her husband. "You need some sleep too."

"Are you coming back to bed?"

Lydia shook her head. "I'll be watching the three newest arrivals."

Caleb placed a hand on her cheek. "What was that you said once? 'Even though I have magic, I'm still a human,' right?"

Lydia smiled and placed a hand on his chest, pushing him gently. "Yes, but I do have magic. I can run on less sleep than you can. Go to bed," she said gently.

Caleb sighed, gave up trying to talk Lydia back to bed, and gave his wife a quick kiss on the cheek before he walked up the stairs.

"Standing guard?" Perry asked his friend.

Lydia nodded, and Pixie responded. "We'll stay up with you."

"I thought you said that they'd be asleep twenty-four hours," I asked curiously.

"Eh... About..." Lydia replied hesitantly.

I smirked. "Still don't have full confidence in your magic?"

"Never place all your confidence in something," Lydia instructed. "It will always disappoint you."

"Are you going back to sleep, Michael?" Pixie asked, turning to me. "Or do you want to help stand guard?"

"I'll stay up."

 **(...)**

The clock ticked to 2:56 A.M. It had been nearly two hours since Daisy, Leo, and Courtney had arrived.

Lydia sat in a chair, reading a book. Mom had tried to stay awake, but she fell asleep about thirty minutes before. She was leaning against Dad, who was just staying silent.

I was sitting on the kitchen floor in front of the cages, staring at my old friends. My eyes kept being drawn back to Courtney, though.

I heard footsteps come toward me. I turned to look, and Dad smiled at me. "Are you alright, Michael?"

I sighed. "I don't know." I turned back to the cages. "They hate me now." My voice cracked. "We used to be best friends, and now they hate me."

Dad sat down next to me. "I'm sorry."

"It was hard enough making friends when I was with L.O.V.E.M.U.F.F.I.N. because we were all supposed to hate each other, but we still had to work together. They were basically my only friends. And now they're gone, too."

Perry smiled sympathetically. "You and Emily seem pretty close."

"Yeah, but she's my sister," I sighed. "It's not the same."

We fell silent for a few minutes. The only sounds were the clock ticking and Lydia turning pages in her book.

Eventually I spoke up again. "We had our own little gang."

Dad turned his head to look at me. "What?"

I gestured to my three ex-friends. "The four of us. I know it was when I was still with L.O.V.E.M.U.F.F.I.N. and what we did was technically evil, so it makes me guilty to admit it, but it was fun." I immediately added, "Because I was with them."

Perry nodded. "I know what you meant."

"Thug-like behavior was actually encouraged with L.O.V.E.M.U.F.F.I.N," I admitted. "They were always around us, always watching, so they could see if we were behaving that way or not. The more we did, the more credit we got. The credit determined how high our rank was."

 **(Perry's POV)**

I blinked. Nine years and Michael had never told me so much about his life with L.O.V.E.M.U.F.F.I.N. before. "I won't bother asking how you were top."

"I can sum it up in one word," my son confessed. "Vandalism."

"Ah." I looked over at the three animals. I recognized one of them. "That's Daisy, isn't it?"

Michael nodded. "She helped attack the American division nine years ago."

"Thought so." Another shape- this one white- caught my eye. "Who's that?"

Michael sighed. "That's Courtney."

"She looks familiar..."

"You know her father fairly well."

"Who is he?"

"Dennis the rabbit."

I blinked. "As in 'Dennis the rogue agent?' The Dennis who separated you from us as an infant? THAT 'Dennis?'"

Michael nodded. "That's the one."

I exhaled. "Small world we live in."

I heard a little moan and turned around. Pixie yawned and sat up. She looked around. "Sorry, I tried not to fall asleep."

I smiled and walked over to her. "No one can blame you."

"Besides, it didn't do any harm," Lydia replied, not looking up from her book. "Nothing exciting happened."

 **(Michael's POV)**

As my parents talked with Lydia, I sighed and went back to staring at my old friends. It just got more painful. "I can't do this," I announced, standing up. "I'm going to bed."

"Alright, sweetheart." Mom smiled at me sympathetically.

I walked to the living room and leaped onto the bed; Michael was sleeping soundly. I smiled and laid down next to him. My eyelids began growing heavy, and everything went black.

 **And you thought you found out everything about Michael's life with LOVEMUFFIN in the first story…**


	3. Chapter 2

**PLEASE DO NOT GET MICHAEL AND MICHAEL MIXED UP IN THIS STORY. IT WAS A MISTAKE I DID NOT REALIZE I HAD MADE UNTIL IT WAS TOO LATE TO FIX ;P ;P ;P ;P ;P ;P**

 **Anyway….**

 **I DO NOT OWN PHINEAS AND FERB, OR BELLE FROM ONCE UPON A TIME(she gets a cameo-of sorts- in this beginning of this chapter). ANY CHARACTER YOU DO NOT RECOGNIZE IS PROBABLY MINE**

 **(Michael's POV)**

It took me a moment to remember everything that happened the night before when I woke up. I sighed when I did and laid my head on my paws.

Michael- always the early bird, like his mother- was already awake and eating. Lydia was making her own breakfast in the kitchen, talking on the phone.

She was walking around something. _The cages._ "Sorry, Belle, I can't come over today. Caleb's feeling sort of sick, I've got to get Michael and Annie to school, and we've got three criminals in the house right now."

She was silent for a moment, then said, "Yes, of course we're gonna take them to prison! That's another thing I'm doing today." Lydia spotted me and waved.

Footsteps pounded down the stairs. I turned and saw Annie running down. "Mommy, I-"

Lydia turned to her daughter and placed a finger on her lips, motioning to the phone.

I sighed and got out of bed, walking into the living room. Dad was sitting on the couch, typing something in on his laptop. He smiled when he saw me. "You alright, Michael?"

"Yeah," I nodded. "What are you doing?"

"Just letting Major Monogram know we've got a few prisoners we're bringing in."

"Oh. Is Mom still asleep?"

Dad nodded. "If she doesn't wake up soon I'll have to wake her up. Her and your sister."

I chuckled. "We really leaving that soon?"

"I'm hoping to leave after you're done eating. If your mother and sister aren't awake by then, they'll have to eat on the way."

"Are you sure you're not evil?"

Dad smirked and continued typing. "Everyone has their moments."

"Who are you talking to?" Annie asked Lydia.

Lydia smiled. "I'm talking to Grandma. Do you want to say hi?"

Annie nodded, and Lydia said something. Probably to her step-mother. "Annie wants to talk to you."

Lydia looked over at Dad and me. "Are you okay with me putting the phone on speaker?"

We nodded, and Lydia smiled and clicked one button on the phone. A female voice with a British accent rang out from the phone. "Hello, Annie."

"Hi, Grandma Belle!" the little girl squealed.

Perry laughed. "If Annie keeps that volume up, I won't need to worry about waking Pixie and Emily up."

Sure enough, a few minutes later, Mom came down the stairs. "Hey," Dad said, smiling at her.

Mom smiled back, and Dad continued. "Is Emily still asleep?"

Pixie nodded. "I didn't wake her up because I didn't know when you wanted us to leave. Do you want me to go wake her?"

"Let's give her a few more minutes," Dad replied.

"Okay." Mom came over and sat next to Dad. She leaned her head on Dad's shoulder.

"Do you want to get something to eat before we leave?" Perry murmured.

"I'm not hungry," Pixie replied softly, closing her eyes.

My stomach growled. "I better go get my breakfast."

 **(...)**

Emily still wasn't awake by the time I finished my breakfast. I looked over at my parents. They were nuzzling and enjoying each other's company.

I sighed. It looked like it was up to me to wake Emily. I grinned and shrugged. _Oh, well._

I walked upstairs and opened the door to Emily and Annie's room. Emily was sleeping peacefully on the bed. _Sorry, Emily, I hate to do this._ I paused, then changed my mind. _Actually, I don't._

I reached for my little sister and began tickling her. Emily shrieked, laughed, and began kicking.

After a couple minutes, I stopped, letting Emily catch her breath. She glared at me and used that breath in a very expected way. "Michael!"

I smirked. "Yes?"

Emily let out a much exaggerated sigh and got out of bed. She yawned.

"Are you really still tired?"

"Well, last night was kind of noisy, in case you didn't remember!" Emily snapped.

I grinned. Emily was definitely not a morning person. "Oh, well, I might as well have breakfast."

Emily didn't get to keep her plan. As soon as Dad saw Emily, he said, "Great! Let's get going."

"What?" I could hear the whine in my sister's voice. "Dad, I haven't eaten yet!"

"Emily, it's nearly lunchtime anyway," Pixie sighed. "You'll survive without one meal."

"Fine," Emily grumbled.

Dad stood up and helped Mom up. "Besides, I don't think you want criminals in the house any longer."

I winced. I knew Dad was right, but still... My old friends, criminals. _You used to be one_ , I reminded myself.

Dad walked over to Lydia, who had gotten off the phone with her step-mother. "Do you think you could help us get them-" Dad gestured to Daisy, Leo, and Courtney- "to HQ?"

Lydia hesitated. "Well, Linda and Lawrence are still asleep, so I can ask Caleb to watch the kids- if I go, I'll be back before it's time for them to get to school. If he feels up to watching Annie and Michael, then I'll come."

I sat down on the kitchen floor and stared at Courtney. She was still sound asleep, thanks to Lydia's magic. It was hard to believe that this cotton-furred angelic-looking lagomorph sleeping in front of me was Dennis the rogue rabbit's daughter.

I lost my best friends. I had been aware of that for years- and especially last night- but it really hit me hard now. I attempted to blink back tears. It didn't work.

Directing my head to the ground, I squeezed my eyes shut. I could feel the tears drip from my eyes, and they slid down my cheeks to the floor.

I felt Mom's arm wrap around me, and I buried my face in her fur, crying. Mom rocked me back and forth slowly. "I'm so sorry, sweetheart," she murmured.

 **(Perry's POV)**

I watched sympathetically as Pixie comforted Michael. I would have helped, but my mate seemed to have it under control.

Lydia, who had apparently gone upstairs at some point, ran back down. I chuckled. She was married and had been a mother- of twins- for eight years, and, somehow, she still had hardly changed. Caleb followed his wife a bit more slowly.

Lydia came up to me. "Caleb said he was feeling good enough to watch the kids until I'm back. Let's go."

 **(Michael's POV)**

I sat in my seat behind Dad in the rocketcar. Mom was sitting next to Dad, and Emily was sitting behind Mom. Next to me.

I glanced over at Lydia, who had her own little thing. I had no idea what it was, but it was some kind of flying vehicle Lydia had created. And since she had magic, she didn't need to drive.

Daisy, Courtney, and Leo were all still asleep; they were riding in Lydia's...thingie. I glanced over at Courtney. The sun's glow made her fur shine more than normal.

I attempted to clear my head and glanced over at Emily. She was talking with Mom and Dad. "Will I EVER get a summer break? Or a spring break or Christmas break, for that matter?"

I grinned. Emily was an AIT, and the Agents In Training not only learned how to fight and O.W.C.A's rules and stuff like that, they got just as much normal school as regular kids did. Well, a bit more, actually.

"Nope," Dad said, not even glancing back.

Emily huffed and looked to her right side. "Normal kids get breaks from school, you know."

"Normal children aren't spies-in-training," Mom replied, turning to look at Emily.

Emily sighed, yawned, and leaned her head against her seat, closing her eyes.

 _Oh, no, you're not falling asleep again._ "Hey, Lydia," I called, "could I have a cup of cold water?"

I held my paw out, and Lydia waved her hand- apparently, she didn't know how to snap. A cup with ice cold water appeared in my paw from a cloud of purple magic.

Smirking, I held the cup over Emily, tilting it slightly. My sister's eyelids fluttered, and she spotted the cup hanging ominously over her head. She let out a piercing shriek and sat up.

Lydia, who had apparently been watching, laughed. "We're you seriously going to do it?"

"If she didn't wake up in time."

"I wasn't asleep!" Emily snapped.

"Do what?" Mom asked, turning back around.

"Michael was going to dump some water on me!"

Dad laughed. "I'm alright with that, as long as you dry the car up afterwards."

I grinned and shrugged. "No problem!"

"Dad!" Emily complained. She paused, then looked at the sky. "Although," she mused, "I guess getting wet wouldn't be horrible. It's July, it's late morning, the sun's shining brightly. I guess I wouldn't freeze."

Emily continued talking, and, eventually, her mindless prattling began to bug me. I leaned forward. "Could you get her to shut up?" I whispered to Dad.

"If talking's what'll keep her awake, we should let her." I could tell Dad seemed to be reminding himself that, too.

Mom leaned over to Dad. "I was just like that when I was her age."

"I bet so," Dad responded.

Pixie just looked at her mate, and Perry continued. "Do you remember how much you were talking when we first met?"

"Fair enough."

Emily quieted down the closer we got to HQ. When Dad parked, I noticed she was asleep. I sighed, grinned, and poured the water on her.

Emily moaned and opened her eyes. She realized she was soaking wet and glared at me. "Michael!"

I snickered, and Emily got out of the rocketcar and shook herself. "I'm still wet," she muttered.

Lydia, who had parked her thing a minute before, threw Emily a rag. My sister grabbed it and began drying herself off.

Dad reached into the glove compartment and tossed a roll of paper towels to me. "Catch."

I caught it with my paws and started cleaning up the water.

Mom pulled out her phone and called- well, Major Monogram, probably. "We're here now," I heard her say. "Yes, so are the prisoners."

I winced and heard Mom continue. "Could you send out a few agents to help us get them inside? Only a few because Lydia put the prisoners to sleep, and they shouldn't be waking up until tonight." It felt weird to only hear half of the conversation.

A few minutes later, HQ's doors opened, and three- _wow, Major Monogram took "a few" specifically_ \- agents came outside.

I looked up to see who they were. Bethel the bear- or Agent B, Ethan the eagle- or Agent E, and Barry the bulldog- or Agent Barry. The bulldog crossed his arms and glared at me. "Michael."

I met his glare steadily, looking him in the eye. "Barry."

We never really got along. It started with a simple, we're-suppose-to-hate-each-other-we're-on-opposite-sides thing, but then...then I poisoned him. I had poisoned a lot of the other agents, too, but Barry, he really- he really hated me for it. Which was actually funny, because there were some agents who nearly died from my poison, and Barry was not one of them.

The bulldog crossed his arms. "Better hurry up there, or you're gonna be late for your own class."

I looked at my watch. _Oh, crud._ I tossed the final paper towel on the pile of used towels, picked up the pile, and began running into HQ. I tossed the towels in the trash can. "Come on, Emily!"

 **So, what did Barry mean, "You're gonna be late for your own class?" Find out next chapter ;P**


	4. Chapter 3

**So, I have this story marked as a Romance/Friendship, but that's only because you can only put down two genres on your story... So that technically means this is a Romance/Friendship/Family/Drama...**

 **I DO NOT OWN PHINEAS AND FERB. ANY CHARACTER YOU DO NOT RECOGNIZE IS PROBABLY MINE**

 **(Emily's POV)**

I ran down the hall after my brother, eventually catching up to him. "Am I going to the gym first today?"

Michael, who had finally slowed down to a walking pace, reached into his pack and pulled out a roster. "Well, counting the fact you're on my first list, yeah."

Michael and I made it to the training gym, still locked for the morning. My brother sighed in relief and unlocked the room. He turned to look at me. "Well, you're here a little early; why don't you help me set up?"

Apparently, it was a rhetorical question, because Michael tossed me his pack. "Can you just take the two things at the top out?"

My older brother, king of rhetoricalness. I unzipped the duffel bag/backpack and pulled out a kickball, feeling my heart drop to my stomach. _Oh, great_. My spirits lifted a bit when I pulled out a smaller ball the size of a baseball. The kind of ball that can be tossed from hand to hand- or in O.W.C.A's case, paw to paw.

"So what exactly are we doing today?" I asked lightly, glaring at the kickball, hoping to destroy it with my gaze. It wasn't working.

"You'll see."

I gave up trying to kill the ball with my glare and tossed it at my brother. It startled Michael, and he immediately kicked it up- straight to the ceiling. "Nice going," I muttered.

"Give it a minute before you start telling me off." Michael responded.

I looked back to the ceiling. The ball had gotten partly wedged between two poles. _Please don't come back down. Please don't come back down._

It came back down anyway. Michael exhaled in relief. I let out a breath, too, but it was a sigh.

We heard a knock and turned to the door. Christine the cat was leaning against the wall, grinning. "Can I come in?"

"Little late to be asking that, right?" I inquired.

Michael blushed. "How much did you see?"

"Enough to know your reflexes are intact," Christine replied with a wink. "Just be glad the ball came down again instead of getting stuck to the ceiling."

Michael rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. "Yeah, enough agents dislike me WITHOUT me losing property."

"I don't," Christine beamed. "Besides, you're making it sound like there's only a select few of us who DO like you."

"Isn't there?" Michael asked in confusion.

"I think it will be easier to list the agents that don't like him," I grinned.

"You're right." Christine began listing the agents that didn't really like or get along with my brother, counting them out on her fingers. "Let's see... There's Barry, Peter, Kiki..."

 **(Christine's POV)**

After listing the obvious three, I had to dig through my brain to think of more agents who didn't like Michael. "Umm... Oh, yeah! Maurice..."

"Who's Maurice?" Emily asked curiously.

"Small, white mouse," Michael explained. "Much tougher than he looks?"

"Oh... Agent Mouse!"

"O.W.C.A. has more than one Maurice?" Michael asked incredulously.

"I think that's the monkey's name, too," I answered.

"Does he make the dislike list?" Michael inquired.

"Nah..." I began. "But Willy does."

"Agent W, right?"

I smiled. Emily was definitely a curious girl. "Yes, that's right."

Michael huffed. "I've got a whale who doesn't like me?"

"And an elephant," I responded. "I'll bring flowers."

"Nice to know you care."

I giggled, feeling myself blush. I hoped that Michael didn't notice.

I still remembered the first time I had seen him. It was in this very same gymnasium. I had turned around to the doorway and spotted Michael wearing handcuffs, standing in front of Barry the bulldog.

My heartbeat had accelerated just a tiny bit then, but whether it was from fear or...something else, I still didn't know. All I know is after Michael joined my side, my feelings toward him escalated quickly.

I don't think Michael ever notices. I hope he does soon and that he returns my feelings. We're both thirteen, both close to the age range. I know I love him...and I've always wanted to become a mother.

"Christine?" Michael's voice brought me out of my thoughts.

"Sorry," I blushed, "I guess I got lost in my thoughts."

Michael smiled. "Yeah, well, you may want to stop now...it's 10:55 A.M."

 **(Michael's POV)**

A couple minutes later, all the AITs in Emily's class came rushing into the gym. They knew the drill and lined up in rows of five. I nudged Emily, and she walked over to the front row.

"Any questions before we start?" I asked, looking each AIT in the eye.

Rebecca the rhinoceros calf raised her- um, hoof. I pointed at her. "Yes?"

"Why do you look so weird?"

I clasped my paws together, hearing Christine giggle. "Alright, any questions on something related to this class?"

Chrysalis the fox raised her paw. I called on her. "Can we start now?" she asked in a very annoyed tone.

"Any POLITE questions on something related to this class?" I looked around. "No one? Okay, then, let's get started."

I looked over at Christine. She was not only a close friend of mine, she was my helper with the class. "Could you toss the balls over, Christine?"

A small ball was sent my way, and I caught it with my paw, also catching several murmurs of wonder coming from the group. I set the ball on the floor, getting myself ready for the bigger ball to come my way. The kickball came flying, and, this time, I had to use both of my paws to catch it.

I turned back to the group. "Many agents have different skills. Sometimes one agent is amazing at one thing but horrible with another." I turned to look at my little sister. "Emily, would you mind coming up?"

My sister came up. "Why me?" she hissed.

"You're the perfect visual example of what I'm trying to explain," I muttered back. Emily tried to keep it secret, but I knew about her amazing skill- and her not-so-amazing other thing.

I tossed my sister the small ball. "Strut your stuff, sis."

Emily began tossing the ball around, bouncing it from one paw to another. She even rolled the ball down her arm and caught it easily. Emily threw the ball high up to the ceiling and, when it fell back down, she grabbed it with one paw. The ball didn't even slip.

All the AITs stared at her in amazement, and I even saw Chrysalis' eyes widen in surprise. Emily tossed the ball back to me, and I caught it. "See? Everyone has different skills. I don't think any of O.W.C.A's top agents can do something like that."

I rolled the kickball to my sister. "Alright, Emily, all you have to do is kick this ball once."

I could see Emily shaking from nervousness. She kicked and missed the ball.

"Can you pass it back?" I asked my sister.

She threw it over, and I kicked it to her again. She missed again. I heard Chrysalis chuckle. Emily tossed the ball to me again. We repeated it several times.

Emily would have killed me if I said it out loud, but there was a way my little sister was like Dr. Doofenshmirtz. Amazing hand- or in my sister's case, paw- coordination, not-so-great foot coordination.

"But that's alright," I said after Emily missed for, like, the seventeenth time. "This is what I was trying to show. Everyone has different skills and weaknesses, and that's okay."

Emily tossed the kickball to me one last time and walked back over to the group.

Chrysalis crossed her arms and stuck her hip out. "Well, MY mom says that agents need to be good at EVERYTHING."

I sighed. The fox was Kiki and Peter's daughter, and was WAY too much of a combo of her parents. Both personality-wise and physically. Chrysalis was a black and white fox who was out to get me, Emily, and- well, basically our whole family. She was one year younger than Emily, and one-hundred helpings meaner.

Dad said that Chrysalis was a lot like her mother was at that age. I didn't ask how he knew that and just assumed it was from unlucky experience as the victim. Kiki likes Dad just as much as she likes me- well, maybe she hates me a bit more.

Chrysalis' insolent voice brought me back. "And my mom would know; she's one of O.W.C.A's top ten."

Emily glared at the fox. "Well, Michael's learned from Agent P, Agent Pixie, AND Agent Pinky. Is your mom one of the top FIVE?"

Chrysalis' eyes narrowed, but she didn't reply. Emily continued. "Didn't think so. Besides, MY parents are O.W.C.A's two best agents."

Chrysalis chuckled, obviously finding a save for herself. "Which is all the more reason you're so pathetic! If your parents are the top two agents, you should be able to kick a BALL."

I saw that Emily was on the verge of tears. For my sister, her lack of foot coordination was a weakness both physically and emotionally. I stepped in-between them. "That's enough."

Chrysalis huffed and looked away. Emily looked away, too. Towards the door. I noticed my little sister begin to slowly back away toward the door a moment too late. "Emily?"

Emily turned and ran out of the gym. "Emily!" I called.

She either didn't hear me, or she was ignoring me. I heard Chrysalis laugh and whirled back around to see the fox rolling her eyes.

I grabbed the brat by her wrist and dragged her off to the side, glaring at her. "Now, you listen closely, you little terror," I growled through clenched teeth. "Emily is my little sister, and if you want to hurt her, you'll have to go through me."

Letting go of Chrysalis' wrist, I ran off after my sister. Okay, maybe I was a bit harsh on the black and white fox. It wasn't much of an excuse, but, sometimes, my training from L.O.V.E.M.U.F.F.I.N. was what I'd resort to when I was feeling any extreme emotion. Anger, especially.

Luckily, I knew Emily well. She had run to one of three places. The first place I checked was my little cubicle- every agent got one. She wasn't there. I stuck my head in Mom's cubicle. No sister.

That left one place. I quietly opened the door to Dad's office. It was empty, except for the little platypus sitting under the desk. Emily's face was buried in her knees, and her arms were wrapped around them. I heard her sniffling.

I silently shut the door behind me and crawled next to Emily. She heard me and looked up. I smiled sympathetically. "Are you alright?"

Emily shook her head and rubbed her eyes, looking away. "Chrysalis is right. I should be able to kick a ball."

"She's probably just jealous," I grinned. "No one can handle a ball like you can, Emily."

"With my paws, anyway," Emily muttered. "But what would Dad think if he knew about my lack of foot coordination?"

There it was. Emily's real reason for her reaction. I pulled my sister close. "I think it wouldn't matter to him," I murmured, "because he loves you." I backed away from Emily and looked her in the eye. "Besides, you've got a serious skill."

I got a little closer to my sister and whispered, "I don't think even Dad could do what you can."

"But Dad's so good at everything."

I laughed. "Emily, I bet there are some things even Dad's not good at."

"Like what?"

Emily had cornered me. I realized that I couldn't think of anything off the top of my head. "Just ask Mom later; she knows Dad the best."

Emily crossed her arms. "Mm-hmm."

She was trying to act like she wasn't really bothered anymore, but I could hear my sister was still upset. I pulled her into a hug. "There's nothing wrong with you having those weaknesses. Everyone has a weakness, but they've always got a strength that replaces it."

I could see a couple of tears dripping down Emily's cheeks. I gently brushed them away. "Do you want to talk with Mom and Dad later?"

My sister sniffled and nodded. I kissed Emily's forehead and grinned. "Do you want to go play four-square?" It was Emily's favorite sport, and everyone else in her class liked it, too.

Emily gave me a smile. "Okay!" She got up and ran out of Dad's office.

I grinned and crawled back out from under the desk. Dad was standing in the doorway, smiling. "What was that about?"

"Emily wants to talk with you and Mom once we go home," I replied. "I'd better get back to the gym."

And after I finished up teaching the different classes of AITs for the day, I'd be checking in on Courtney, Daisy, and Leo.

 _ **PLEASE READ**_ **: so, if you are reading this AN, then that probably means you have read this chapter. On the summary, I have this marked as an OC/OC story.** _**FROM WHAT YOU'VE READ, WHO DO YOU THINK THE TWO OCs ARE? PLEASE LEAVE A COMMENT ON THAT IN THE BOX BELOW.**_


	5. Chapter 4

**PLEASE READ (I've got a lot of these 0-0): I said at the beginning that platypus years equals human years in this story. But animals still mature faster than humans. Let's take Michael for an example. He's thirteen. That's just becoming a teenager for us humans, but, for animals, Michael's nearly an adult. Now, that doesn't mean he's as mature as an adult, as you will see this chapter. If it helps you to think about it, Michael is only about six months to a year younger than Perry was in the show.**

 **Now, I'm gonna shut up so you can read ;P**

 **I DO NOT OWN PHINEAS AND FERB. ANY CHARACTER YOU DO NOT RECOGNIZE IS PROBABLY MINE.**

 **(Michael's POV)**

I stood in front of the window to the prison. Upon seeing my three ex-friends stir, I smiled. _Looks like Lydia was right_. They weren't asleep for the twenty-four hours they were supposed to be.

Emily had offered to help me and Christine pack up at the end of the day, but I figured she had been through enough. She was now waiting for me outside with Mom and Dad.

Christine walked up to me. "Did you know them well?"

I smiled. Christine was really my only friend. Emily and I were close, but we're siblings. Though, for some reason, almost whenever I say something like "I'm so glad I have a friend like you" to Christine, she gets kind of mad. She acts really weird at times like that, and it's hard to understand her, but, hey, she IS a girl.

"Yeah," I replied. "They were my three closest friends when I was still with L.O.V.E.M.U.F.F.I.N."

That was another thing about having a friendship with Christine that I couldn't have with Emily. Emily didn't know about my past with L.O.V.E.M.U.F.F.I.N- and I had no intention of her finding out- so I couldn't talk to her about stuff like that. I liked talking about it with my parents, but they had been stuck directly in the middle of it with me. Christine had been watching from the sidelines, so she could see more.

"Ah." Christine and I fell silent. Eventually, Christine spoke up again. "I can't help but notice that two of them are girls."

Why does that matter to her? I looked over at my friend again. "Yeah...why?"

"You weren't anything more than just friends with either of them, right?"

I laughed. "Chris, we were all WAY too young!"

Christine blushed. "Yeah, you're right."

"But why would that matter?" I asked.

Christine began stuttering, still a beet red. "I-it j-just... I-I'd better get going." She left the room quickly.

I stared after her in confusion. What was that about? I saw Ethan and Bethel- yay! No Barry- staring at me. "What?"

The two present prison guards immediately turned their gazes to the ground. "Nothing," Bethel replied.

"Okay..." I didn't understand it. Why was everyone acting so weird? "Can I go in?"

I heard someone clearing his throat behind me. I turned around and saw Barry glaring at me, his arms crossed. "Why, exactly, do you want to go in, may I ask?"

"Because they were my friends," I responded, mirroring Barry's position.

The bulldog growled and walked over to Bethel. "Thanks for filling in; it's my turn again." The bear nodded and walked off.

"You're not going in there," Barry said.

"Why not?" Luckily, one class in L.O.V.E.M.U.F.F.I.N. was how to calmly handle intimidating characters.

"You've probably just been hiding amongst us for these past nine years, waiting for those buddies of yours to come, so you could make a plan to take down O.W.C.A."

I blinked. "Do you realize how ridiculous that sounds?"

"L.O.V.E.M.U.F.F.I.N's very ridiculous."

I heard another- much nicer- voice from behind me. "What's going on?"

I turned to see a familiar face looking sternly at the guards. "Pinky!" Barry gasped. "I-I was just-"

The shaking chihuahua held his paw up, silencing for the other canine to stop. "'Cause I don't think Perry and Pixie would be very happy to know what's happening."

"We can't trust Michael with the prisoners," Barry protested.

"You're saying you can't trust O.W.C.A's top agents' son?" Pinky laughed. "If Perry finds out just how big your grudge against Michael is, you probably won't be one of his favorite agents."

I smirked. In O.W.C.A, nearly all the agents strived to gain the top agent's approval. Apparently, it was a big thing if you could say that the top agent likes you. Especially with O.W.C.A's present top agent; Dad was one of the best O.W.C.A's ever had.

Pinky walked up to me and patted my back. "How you been, Michael?"

I shrugged. "Oh, you know. Tired of being treated like an outsider even though I have been constantly proving my loyalty to O.W.C.A. for nine years." I shot a pointed look at Barry, and Pinky copied me.

"You've got five minutes." Barry's teeth were so clenched together, I could hardly hear the growl he let out grudgingly. "No more."

I had to resist sticking my tongue out at Barry as I passed him. It would NOT have helped.

Once I was in the room, I heard the automatic doors shut behind me.

 **(Courtney's POV)**

I glared at Michael from the minute he stepped in until he came over to me. He crouched down in front of my box, and I rolled over onto my other side, turning my glare to the wall. "I have got nothing to say to you, Michael."

I felt hurt and betrayed. We had been best friends. Then he turned around- literally- and double-crossed all of us. He back-stabbed me. And he expected me to talk to him?

"I just need a yes or no answer," Michael said softly. "Do you know who your father is?"

I hesitated before replying. "Yes. When did you find out who he was?"

"When he and I were cell-mates in the O.W.C.A-Traz."

"All those years ago..." I murmured. "When you were still on our- my- side."

"But if you know who your father is now, then do you understand why I made the choice I did?"

I sat up and turned to look at Michael again. I wanted him to see the hurt in my eyes, but I didn't want to seem weak. "No, I don't! How could you leave all of your friends- your loyal friends, whom you had known for years- for your parents, who you had only known for a few months?"

Michael winced. "It was different for you," he answered slowly. "Your mother gave you to L.O.V.E.M.U.F.F.I.N. so they could raise you. L.O.V.E.M.U.F.F.I.N. stole me from my parents."

 **(Michael's POV)**

It killed me to see Courtney the way she was. Her cerulean blue eyes were radiating a combination of hurt and hate toward me.

I heard a knock on the glass. Ethan was pressed up against it, motioning for me to leave. "Bye."

 **(Perry's POV)**

It was dark outside when Michael came out of HQ. Emily, Pixie, and I had been sitting and waiting for him in the rocketcar. "Everything okay, Michael?" Pixie asked him once he sat down in the car.

"If 'okay' means completely miserable, then, yeah! I'm great!"

Pixie and I exchanged a glance. "What's wrong, sweetheart?"

Michael just sighed and looked out at HQ. His eyes looked a bit more narrow than normal, and I realized he was glaring at something. I glanced over where my son's glare was directed and didn't see anything, unless Michael was just very mad at all of O.W.C.A. right now. And since that probably wasn't the case, it meant that Michael was very stressed and confused right now. The last time I had seen him like that was nine years ago.

I shot Pixie a glance as I ignited the car. _We need to talk to him soon._ My mate nodded in agreement.

We were all silent until about halfway home, when I broke the quiet. "Kiki cornered me before we left," I said to Michael. "She said that Chrysalis told her that you called Chrysalis a 'little terror.'"

Pixie chuckled and looked to her left. "Pretty accurate description."

"She deserved it," I heard Michael grumble. Pixie glanced back at our son, and I heard him sigh.

"Well, even if she did, you shouldn't go calling Kiki's daughter names," Pixie grinned. "Kiki and Peter hate you enough as it is. I mean, can you imagine how angry I'd be if one of you was insulted like that?"

"I can imagine," I smirked. I knew my mate well enough to know that if I wasn't driving, she would've shoved me.

 **(Michael's POV)**

I couldn't exactly say I was in the best mood at the moment. As soon as we got home, I walked over to my and Michael's bed and flopped on it, being careful not to wake the sleeping eight year-old.

My eyes were closed, and I heard Emily say something to Mom and Dad. I opened my eyes again and saw my sister and parents walk into the room with the television.

I quietly followed them. They were sitting on the light green couch together. All three of them were talking so softly I couldn't understand them, so I could only watch.

After about five minutes talking, I saw Emily begin crying. Dad hugged her, and Mom smiled.

So did I. I had figured out what Emily was talking with them about. _That should be a load of her shoulders now_ , I thought, walking back to the bed and laying down. It was the last thing I thought before falling asleep.

 **Comment for the beginning of this chapter: Wow... Phineas' obliviousness must've rubbed off on Michael.**

 **Comment for the middle of this chapter: So, Courtney's feeling personally betrayed… I wonder if that means anything…..**


	6. Chapter 5

**So, this is just a little extra bit. I'm not sure it would count as an official CHAPTER, but it might... Enjoy!**

 **I DO NOT OWN PHINEAS AND FERB. ANY CHARACTER YOU DO NOT RECOGNIZE IS PROBABLY MINE.**

I laid in my "cell," my head resting on my paws, my thoughts focused on Michael's betrayal. I could feel tears threaten. _Come on, Courtney, soldier up_ , I scolded myself. _What would Dad say?_ _He'd say that right now, Michael is a weakness. And weaknesses don't hel_ _p. So what do you do with weaknesses? You get rid of them._

I inhaled deeply and closed my eyes. Michael had been my best friend. But I still had Daisy and Leo. I had to purge Michael from my mind. From my thoughts. From my cares.

After exhaling, I smirked. Michael meant nothing to me anymore. He had no special place in my heart any longer. He wasn't someone who used to be a friend, and neither did he mean anything more than a friend to me. Not now.

He was now only an obstacle that stood between me and succeeding. And I'd stop at nothing to stop HIM.

 **Wow... Courtney's been well trained in evil 0-0 0-0 0-0 She might as well have brainwashed herself….**


	7. Chapter 6

**Sorry if this wait was too long for you ;P ;P I've been busy**

 **I DO NOT OWN PHINEAS AND FERB. ANY CHARACTER YOU DO NOT RECOGNIZE IS PROBABLY MINE**

 **(Michael's POV)**

The next morning, I got up, ate breakfast, and took a walk, not talking to anyone that whole time. I couldn't. Not after everything from the day before.

There was one person I could talk to. It was sort of pathetic that it wasn't either of my parents. However, in all fairness, I did know him longer than I have my parents.

I rang to doorbell to Doofenshmirtz Evil Inc. Vanessa, who I had met after the whole L.O.V.E.M.U.F.F.I.N. debacle, answered the door. "Hi, Vanessa."

"Hey, Michael. You probably want to see Dad, don't you?"

I nodded. "That would be great."

After L.O.V.E.M.U.F.F.I.N. was defeated, most of the scientists had scattered and vanished. However, since Dr. Doofenshmirtz fought on O.W.C.A's side, he stayed. It took a bit of convincing from me and my family to get Major Monogram to not arrest Dr. Doofenshmirtz, but, in the end, Dr. Doofenshmirtz was allowed to return to his home, and, in nine years, he hadn't done one evil scheme.

Vanessa opened the door all the way and let me through. Dr. Doofenshmirtz was sitting on the couch, reading a newspaper. He looked up and saw me. "Hello, Michael the platypus! And thank you for not breaking the door down like Perry the platypus used to. Every day."

I waited until Vanessa was out of ear-shot, then said "I really need to talk to you."

"Alright," Dr. Doofenshmirtz said, putting his paper on the couch and motioning me to climb up next to him, "what is it?"

I leaped onto the couch and crawled onto its arm, laying my head on my paws. "Do you remember Courtney the rabbit?"

"A bit... She was Dennis the rogue rabbit's daughter, right?"

"How'd you know that?" I blinked.

Dr. Doofenshmirtz shrugged. "I dunno, I think I read it somewhere." I shook my head. The "scientist"- he still called himself a scientist- never made much sense.

"Anyway," Dr. Doofenshmirtz began after a few minutes of silence, "what about Courtney?"

I inhaled deeply. _Oh, gosh_. How was I supposed to tell him? I couldn't even tell my parents! Yet, anyway. "I-I think-" I exhaled nervously. "I think th-that I have a...a..."

 **(Doof's POV)**

When Michael the platypus finally said what he had been trying to say, I couldn't even hear him. He had quieted down to a murmur throughout the sentence. "What?"

 **(Michael's POV)**

I groaned. He hadn't heard me? _Now I'll have to say it again,_ I thought miserably.

I repeated myself rapidly, using just one breath. "I think I have a crush on Courtney." I exhaled when it was done, releasing the tension that had apparently built up in me.

Dr. Doofenshmirtz stared at me in amazement. "You have a crush on Courtney the rabbit?"

"I think I do."

"Well... Even if you do, what does it matter? She isn't exactly in a locatable place right now." My face must have said otherwise, because Dr. Doofenshmirtz immediately added, "Wait, is she?"

I explained everything important that had happened in the past forty-eight hours. Dr. Doofenshmirtz sighed. "That is a really big pickle you're stuck in. Well, what did your parents say?"

 **(Doof's POV)**

Michael the platypus didn't reply; he looked at the floor guiltily. I gasped in realization. "You haven't told them yet, have you?"

I saw Michael the platypus shake his head, not looking up from the carpet. "Michael the platypus, Perry the platypus and Pixie the platypus are your parents! Why didn't you talk to them?"

"I'm going to soon," Michael the platypus answered. "I wanted to talk to you first." He finally looked back at me. "I've known you longer."

I blinked. Nine years ago I wouldn't have had a problem with Michael the platypus coming to me first, but, now... "Michael the platypus, you've known your parents for nine years!"

"And I've known you for thirteen," Michael the platypus counteracted. "Nearly fourteen."

I sighed. His reasoning made sense, but still! "Maybe we've known each other longer. But Pixie and Perry the platypuses- platypi? It's confusing- you see, I used to think it was 'platypi,' but then I met Liam McCracken and-" I realized what I was saying and rubbed the back of my neck sheepishly. "Sorry, I'm straying off of topic. Anyway, they know you better than I do. The most help I can offer you is talk to your parents. I don't want you to think I'm their replacement."

 **(Michael's POV)**

I sighed; Dr. Doofenshmirtz was right. I laid my head back on my paws and closed my eyes.

Dr. Doofenshmirtz stroked me gently on my back, and I fell asleep.

 **(...)**

Apparently, I was asleep for a couple hours, because it was 11:30 A.M. when I woke up again. I had gotten to Doofenshmirtz Evil Inc. around 9:15 in the morning.

Dr. Doofenshmirtz had invited me to stay for lunch, but I had politely declined. I wanted to go home and eat, so I could talk to my parents after lunch. Besides, he didn't have any food I liked.

Lunch was silent and just a bit on the awkward side. Mom and Dad kept shooting glances at each other. I could tell that they knew something more was going on in my part of the big, chaotic mess than I was telling.

I took that as a good time to speak up. "I need to talk to the two of you after lunch," I said once I swallowed.

Emily pointed between me, Mom, and Dad with her fork. "I assume you don't want me in the discussion?" Her voice was muffled, and I realized that she still had food in her mouth.

Mom and Dad shot my sister a look, and Emily swallowed and looked down at the table. "Right, sorry."

I smiled and shook my head. "It's something that I need to talk with them about alone, Emily."

"Kay."

 **(...)**

After lunch, I told my parents everything I told Dr. Doofenshmirtz. When I was done, I moaned and buried my head in my paws. "And now Christine's acting weird. What do I do?"

Mom and Dad were silent for a couple minutes. Then Mom spoke up. "Don't worry about it."

"What?" I looked up at her.

"Try not to worry about how Christine's acting and your feelings for Courtney," Mom explained. "Try to focus on something different, something happier. For now, anyway."

"Like what?"

"Like the fact you're turning fourteen in just a few weeks?" Pixie reminded.

"Oh, right." I chuckled weakly. "Honestly, with everything that's happened the past few days, I'd forgotten."

"Can't say I blame you," Dad grinned. "I don't even know when my birthday IS. Lydia helped figure out the whereabouts, but that's all."

I smiled and rolled my eyes. Somehow, my parents always managed to help me feel better, whether it was intentional or not. Maybe Dr. Doofenshmirtz was right. Maybe I should try to go to my parents first when I have problems.

 **This is officially a LOVE ANGLE story. Not a triangle, cause Courtney and Christine aren't friends… But an acute angle. ;P ;P ;P**


	8. Chapter 7

**This chapter and the next one are kind of short. They're a couple filler chapters that I got the idea for a few days ago.**  
 **  
**

 ****

 **I DO NOT OWN PHINEAS AND FERB. ANY CHARACTER YOU DO NOT RECOGNIZE IS PROBABLY MINE.**

The first place I went after talking with my parents was to Courtney's cell. I knew Mom said to try and not think about Courtney, but, well, have you ever tried to ignore your crush? It's nearly impossible, especially when she's an evil rabbit who was sent to lure you into a possible death trap. Besides, there was something I needed to know.  
"When did you find out that Dennis was your father?" I asked Courtney as soon as I was in the prison room.

The rabbit rolled over to look at me. I backed up in shock at how stone cold her eyes were. "Why, exactly, would I tell you?"

"B-b-because we used to be f-f-f-friends." I inwardly kicked myself. Graceful.

Courtney's tone was as icy as her eyes. "Well, we're not friends anymore, right? Now we're on opposite sides, and you are the enemy. And I'm not about to tell you anything."

I realized with a start that she wasn't talking to me in that tone because she hated me for betraying her; she was treating me the way she treats all her enemies, even the ones she's never met before. Icy calm, terrifyingly cold. _Lot like her father._

Upon realizing I wasn't going to get anything out of my old friend, I sighed and left the room.

 **(...)**

I sat in my cubicle, pencil in paw, staring at a blank page in front of me. Nothing to do. I didn't have paperwork, didn't have a class to teach, my old friends wouldn't speak to me, and Christine was nowhere to be found. _I need a better social life_ , I realized.

Mom and Dad were on a mission, and today was the day Emily's class got to each go on a mission with an agent, so hanging with Emily was out of the question. I was so bored, part of me wished I had a mission.

I probably would have been called on one, had I not been an office agent. O.W.C.A. has three different types of agents. The office agents, the field agents, and the guard- or prison- agents.

Mom and Dad were field agents, and that's what Emily wanted to be. I had only lightly considered becoming a field agent; I finally decided that I had experienced enough excitement in my early years.

Before I had completely realized, I began tally marking the number of missions I had been sent on since I joined O.W.C.A. on the paper. I wasn't surprised that I didn't even get to seven marks. Part of O.W.C.A. for nearly ten years, and still I wasn't very trusted.

My desk's intercom rang. "Agent Michael, if you could please come to my office."

I put the pencil onto the desk and pushed the chair away, standing up and walking to Major Monogram's office. I opened the door, spotted Peter the panda sitting in a chair, and felt my heart sink to the pit of my stomach. However, my spirits lifted when I saw Dad sitting in another chair. I silently slid in the chair between them, scooting it a bit closer to Dad's side.

"Agent Michael," Major Monogram began, "I was looking at records of agents and saw that you have been an agent for years but have only gone on about five missions. Even though you're an office agent, you should still have more missions than that."

I chuckled. What a coincidence.

"But I am aware that many of the agents still don't trust you and would not be comfortable with you going out into the field," Major Monogram resumed. He cleared his throat. "Because of your...past roots."

Dad and I exchanged a glance as Major Monogram continued. "That's why I brought in Agent P and Agent Peter. I wanted to hear the opinion of someone who loves you and someone who still doesn't trust you. I believe it's obvious enough who's who?"

I laughed weakly. My father versus Peter the panda? Definitely obvious.

"Agent P, why don't you go first?"

I glanced over at Dad, and he smiled at me. "I think Michael's come a long way from where he was nine years ago, and I'm not just saying that," he added. "Michael made up for everything he did when still on L.O.V.E.M.U.F.F.I.N's side by helping teach the AITs, and I think that he can most definitely be trusted on a mission."

"Of course you'd say that," Peter scoffed. Dad and I turned to look at him. "You're his father. The way I see it, he was lying low for these past several years, waiting to strike until some of his L.O.V.E.M.U.F.F.I.N. buddies came by. I think that it's a horrible idea to let Michael go on a mission at all and especially bad right now."

"That's almost exactly what Barry thought," I muttered under my breath. I just didn't get why I had been part of O.W.C.A. for nearly ten years and STILL only half the agents trusted me. If that.

"Well," Major Monogram mused, "what is Michael went on a mission with a more experienced agent?"

Dad and Peter exchanged a glance. "That would be okay..." Peter said finally.

I grinned.

"...If..."

My smile fell. Uh-oh, there was an "if."

"...I get to choose which agent he goes with."

"I suppose..." Major Monogram replied. "Alright, come tell me which agent."

Peter stood up and shot me a smirk. Major Monogram bent down, and Peter whispered it in his ear. I growled softly.

Major Monogram blinked. "Are you sure?" I /gulped. Not good.

Peter nodded, and Major Monogram stood back up and called the agent through the intercom. "Agent F, if you could please come to my office."

My eyes widened. Wasn't Agent F...

My suspicions became correct when the door to Major Monogram's office opened. Kiki the fox, A.K.A. Agent F or Peter's mate, stepped through. "Yes, Major?"

As Major Monogram explained, Kiki looked around. She spotted me, and her eyes narrowed. Then Kiki spotted Dad. She huffed and rolled her eyes.

"So, Agent F, what do you say?" Major Monogram's voice seemed to rise back to normal volume. I hadn't even noticed, but it had faded out beforehand.

Kiki shot a smug smirk at Dad and I. "No problem." She flounced out the room, flicking her tail in my face in the process. I growled. Nine years and still no change in the way she treated me.

"You coming?" The yellow fox had an ear-grating, snob-like tone to her voice.

Oh, crud. She really wanted me? I was so dead. I shot Dad a desperate look. _Help me._

Dad gave a helpless shrug. _Sorry, there's nothing I can do._

"Yo, kid! Let's get a move on!"

I had to bite back a sharp retort of _"I'm nearly an adult!"_ and follow her out the room. If things went as planned, I'd be dead before the day was over.

 **Things just are not going Michael's way, are they? Well, at least you get to know Kiki a bit more within this chapter and the next.**


	9. Chapter 8

**So, although these are filler chapters, I had planned for them to be shorter than this one is. And, I guess, the ending of this chapter leads up for a bit of foreshadow for the beginning third story in this series I:} I:}**

 ****

 **I DO NOT OWN PHINEAS AND FERB. ANY CHARACTER YOU DO NOT RECOGNIZE IS PROBABLY MINE.**

 ****

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 **(Michael's POV)**

There was undeniably awkward silence as Kiki drove her rocketcar to where we were going. I was surprised; I had assumed she'd be going on and on listing all my problems or something like that.  
I broke the silence after a bit. "Why do you hate Dad so much?"

Kiki glanced over at me, a combination shock and hostility in her eyes. I could see the thought running through her head. " _I'm a senior agent with higher authority than you; you have no right to be asking me about my private life."_ But she stayed silent.

"I have every right to know, he IS my father," I pressed. "I understand why you don't like me, but what do you have against him?"

 **(Kiki's POV)**

It was hard enough for me to tell Peter! Now Michael was asking me? Not a chance. Yet... He made a good point.

I opened my mouth hesitantly, not sure how to word it. _No!_ I scolded myself suddenly. _If he finds out, he'll run to Perry and tell him! And you can't risk Perry finding out; it would be humiliating_.

Catching myself with my mouth open, I closed it and shook my head roughly. "You're not about to find out, kid."

 **(Michael's POV)**

I winced. Every time she called me "kid," I was reminded of Dennis. And that I betrayed him.

Just thinking of Dennis made me shiver. I back-stabbed him, and Dad said he hated that. Which meant that Dennis would want to get revenge on me. And that was not good news for me.

 **(Kiki's POV)**

Seeing Michael wince struck guilt in me. I remembered how he was Dennis the rogue rabbit's cell-mate for a while. And that the rabbit used to call Michael "kid." Oops.

"Sorry, Michael," I apologized.

 **(Michael's POV)**

I blinked in surprise. Kiki actually apologized to me? Wow. Who was that fox, and what did she do with Kiki? Was it possible that Dad and I- and our whole family- just had the rotten luck of seeing Kiki's bad side and not the nice her? "It's okay."

We were silent until I broke it again. "Who are we fighting?"

"Rodney," was the reply I got. _Great!_ I thought sarcastically. _Oh, well, at least it's not Prof. Rodrigo or Dennis._

"He was detected by O.W.C.A's scanners." I blinked. How long had O.W.C.A. had scanners and not told me?

"Our mission is to try and capture him, then drop him off at O.W.C.A's prison," Kiki continued. O.W.C.A. had been rounding up L.O.V.E.M.U.F.F.I.N. members for nine years. Since I had joined my parents' side.

Some scientists had actually turned themselves in; I remembered realizing that they had been the nicer ones. The ones who seemed to be against what the rest of L.O.V.E.M.U.F.F.I.N. was doing. They included Dr. Bloodpudding, that female professor who ran the intercom- I still couldn't think of her name- and that chestnut/brunette professor with the ruffled shirt who had hosted the L.O.V.E.M.U.F.F.I.N. Pageant of Evil nearly three years before I had even hatched. I think his name was Prof. Eggster or Prof. Enchilada or something.

"Why us?" I asked curiously.

Kiki glanced over at me. "I used to be Rodney's nemesis."

My eyes widened. "Really?"

The fox nodded. "I'm probably the agent who knows him the best." Kiki risked looking me in the eye for a couple of seconds. "Course, you probably know him really well, too."

I crossed my arms, looked at the ground far below, and sighed. "Yeah, I guess I do."

 **(...)**

Kiki landed the car, and we silently walked inside. The building was pitch black and eerily silent. Until I heard the creak of a floorboard sink down. Pressure plate in disguise.

I immediately looked over at Kiki, who was wincing. Almost as quickly, I heard a rope being cut, and a cage fell over us with a bang. "Careful, don't set off any booby traps," I muttered dryly. I had to bite my tongue to suppress, _"How exactly do you have a higher ranking than me?"_

The tone of Kiki's retort was just as dry. "Yeah, thanks for the info."

"Well, well, Kiki the fox. You still have fire in your veins, I see." The voice made me shiver. Prof. Rodenstein stepped out from the shadows, grinning evilly.

Kiki crossed her arms. "Rodney Elizabeth." I chuckled. Typical Kiki, listing the worst of his name.

Prof. Rodney pouted. "I've TOLD you! My name is Aloyse Everheart Elizabeth Otto Wolfgang Hypathia Gunther Galen Gary Cooper Von Rodenstein!"

In training, the Anti-O.W.C.A. and I had been, well, pretty much forced by Prof. Rodenstein to memorize his full name, so I mouthed along with my previous master.

 **(Kiki's POV)**

Suppressing laughter from watching Michael was hard enough; resisting the urge to high-five the kid was even harder.

I realized something in that same moment: _I need to apologize to Perry_. Seeing my daughter and mate treat him and his family the way I did let me see just how rotten I was. Did that really start out just because I was trying to assert myself in front of Perry? _Pathetic, Kiki,_ I scolded myself.

 **  
**

 **(Michael's POV)**

Prof. Rodenstein turned to look at me. "Ah- wait, are you Perry or Michael?"

I sighed. I should have been expecting that question; I look exactly like Dad.

Aware that I even sounded a bit like my father, I decided to do something that would show Prof. Rodenstein it was me.

Shooting a self-conscious look at Kiki, I slowly lifted my fur up to reveal the scar I had earned from L.O.V.E.M.U.F.F.I.N.

 **(Kiki's POV)**

My eyes widened, and I covered my mouth with my paw to mute a gasp. _Oh, my gosh._ Seeing the scar I didn't even know Michael had just made me feel even more guilty than I had been. I had known Michael for nine years- NINE YEARS- and I had never noticed that!

 **(Michael's POV)**

Prof. Rodenstein didn't react at all. "So, Michael, then." As I let my fur drop down again, he continued. "Traitor to L.O.V.E.M.U.F.F.I.N. and the Anti-O.W.C.A."

"And I don't regret it one bit," I growled.

"I should hope not," Prof. Rodenstein replied calmly. "Because we're not about to take you back."

"Good," I retorted, crossing my arms and turning away. "'Cause I hate you and the rest of L.O.V.E.M.U.F.F.I.N," I muttered under my breath.

 **(Kiki's POV)**

I don't think Rodney caught Michael's mutter, but I did. Which was quite good; not even I knew how Rodney'd react to hearing what the kid said.

"So, Rodney," I said, "are any of your buddies here, or is it just you?"

"L.O.V.E.M.U.F.F.I.N. scattered nine years ago, and we are still scattered."

I crossed my arms and raised my eyebrows in disbelief. Rodney sighed. "Well, it's possible they grouped up somewhere else, but it's just me here."

He walked back into the shadows, and I heard a clang. The lights in the building turned on; I spotted Rodney standing by a huge lever on the wall. "See?" he called across the empty room. "Just me!"

I waited until Rodney was back, then said, "I'm surprised you're still using the cages; I figured you'd have learned your lesson back when daily battles were common."

 **(Michael's POV)**

I was grateful that Kiki didn't mention something like, _"back before Michael existed,"_ or, _"back before your whole 'stealing kids to raise them' plan."_

But Prof. Rodenstein did. "Ah, right. Fifteen years ago. Before Michael was even created."

That sentence made me shiver. Why did villains always have to word things in such weird ways? I shot Kiki a sheepish, embarrassed look. Kiki returned it with an apologetic smile.

 **(Kiki's POV)**

 _"Sorry,"_ I was hoping my look said, _"my ex-nemesis can be an idiot at times."_

Rodney continued. "But, as you may have noticed, this isn't the old design; it's newer, harder to escape." He grinned. "We had some test subjects. Guinea pigs and they didn't even notice."

Michael and I exchanged a glance, and I raised my eyebrow. "Who?"

"I believe you know them fairly well," Rodney smirked. "Perry and Pixie the platypi."

My and Michael's eyes widened at the same time. "Mom and Dad?"

"How do you think we captured you? We kidnapped your mother while she was pregnant with you. Of course we had to contain her someway better than normal. We used a special kind of cage, and it worked well," Rodney grinned. "That's the kind of cage you're stuck in right now."

Michael and I exchanged another glance. _"We"?_

 **(Michael's POV)**

I shot Kiki a glance. _We need to stop him and get out of here_. I looked around, trying to find something that could help me and Kiki escape.

Mom and Dad had told me the story. It took Dad five days to figure out how to escape from this style cage, and that was only because of Dr. Doofenshmirtz dropping the remote and Dad managing to hit it with a rock.

But I had learned from Dr. Doofenshmirtz, who had learned from watching Dad, AND, after joining their side, O.W.C.A. taught me a bit more, too. _It's just another trap_ , I thought to myself, looking around. _And there's always a way out of a trap._

"Stall," I whispered to Kiki. When Prof. Rodenstein turned his back again, I quickly ducked down behind the fox. _There's always a way out of a trap. There's always a way out of a trap. There's always a way out of atrap._

Looking around, I thought about all the options. The cage fell down on top of us, and there wasn't a lock. The rope that had been holding the cage- the rope that could have lifted the cage up- had snapped when the cage fell. There was a wooden floor, but it was well-built and the boards were pressed together tightly.

The only thing that wasn't wood on the floor was the pressure plate... The pressure plate! The chance the building had been built with that plate was incredibly low, so it had been installed- not built in! That meant it was looser than the wood, and if it had to sink, there was space underneath it. And THAT meant that maybe...just maybe...

I hesitantly reached for the pressure plate and tried sticking my fingers in between the plate and the wood. They fit! I grasped the tile painted like wood and began trying to lift it up, nudging Kiki in the process. "Talk loudly," I hissed.

The fox began talking about a bunch of things I didn't get, but Prof. Rodenstein seemed to understand her. They chatted and/or argued, blocking out the sound of the panel scraping and creaking from my attempts to lift the panel.

After about five minutes of struggling and using all my arm-strength- while trying to deal with all of yelling in the background, that drove me crazy- I succeeded at taking the tile off.

Yes! There was some space under where it had been. I began digging, pulling all the plaster and stuff out of the ground to reach the next floorboard. It took a lot more work to try to lift the final floorboards, which were just outside the cage. That's when Prof. Rodensteinfinally noticed what I was doing. "Hey! Stop!"

I tore the last floorboard off and crawled through the little tunnel I had created- it was skinny, but, luckily, so was I- and came out on the outside of the cage.

Upon my getting into a fighting stance, Prof. Rodenstein turned and began running. I followed on his heels.

Prof. Rodenstein stopped at a wall and cackled. Only then did I notice the button on the wall. Prof. Rodenstein slapped it, and gas seeped out holes in the wall, filling up the whole room.

Through my coughing, I managed to see Prof. Rodenstein running away. I began to run after him, but my vision got blurry, and everything went black.

 **Dun, dun, DUN!**

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 **So, did this chapter help you change your mind about Kiki at all?**


	10. Chapter 9

**Last chapter: I ended at a cliffhanger I:}**

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 **This chapter: BE PREPARED FOR YOUR VIEW OF KIKI TO CHANGE COMPLETELY. I CAN PRETTY MUCH PROMISE YOU WONT BE ABLE TO THINK OF HER THE SAME WAY AFTER THIS.**

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 **I DO NOT OWN PHINEAS AND FERB. ANY CHARACTER YOU DO NOT RECOGNIZE IS PROBABLY MINE**

 ****

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 **(Michael's POV)**

"Michael, Michael!" I heard a voice and felt someone pushing me. I moaned and sat up, holding my paw against my head.  
Everything still looked a bit fuzzy, but I managed to see three people. Katrina was sitting in front of me, and Mom and Dad were standing on her left. Their faces all relaxed when I opened my eyes. "What happened?"

"Rodney used a knock-out gas," Katrina replied. "Luckily, it's not a fatal poison."

The nurse mentioning Prof. Rodenstein sparked me, and I immediately became alert. "Did we get him?"

Dad shook his head. "He got away."

I growled in frustration and banged my paw on the floor. I realized that we were still in the building. "It's alright," Mom said. "The fact you were able to get out of the cage is an accomplishment in itself."

That reminded me. "Is Kiki okay?"

"Yeah. The gas filled the whole room, so she was knocked out, too, but she woke up before you," Katrina responded, combing her fingers through my head fur. I winced. "Sorry, darling. You're gonna have a bit of a bruise there. You DID collapse onto a hard-wood floor."

"Like carpeted would have been much better," I muttered under my breath.

 **(Pixie's POV)**

I could tell Michael was upset that Rodney had gotten away; he was getting into his sullen mood. Katrina didn't notice his snarky comment, but I did. Apparently, so did Perry, because he exchanged a glance with me.

Kiki the fox walked up to us. "How you feeling, Michael?"

"Not bad," my son replied.

Perry looked over at me again and raised his eyebrows. _"Wow, she's being friendly."_ I nodded in agreement with my mate.

"What about you, Kiki?" Katrina asked.

"Yeah," Michael groaned, holding his paw against his head, "how's YOUR head?"

Kiki chuckled. "Well, probably better than yours, 'cause I didn't fall onto my head."

"How did you not?"

I grinned, deciding to test something. "It was probably a fall like in the movies- a dramatic collapse onto your tail, just happening to curl up into a ball in the process."

Kiki laughed, mirroring my grin. "Yeah, actually, it probably was."

 **(Perry's POV)**

I blinked. What on Earth was going on with that fox? The Kiki I knew would have thought Pixie had been making fun of her- of course she wasn't, just joking around- and made a snarky response or something.

Once Kiki had walked off with Peter, I stepped a bit closer to Katrina and whispered, "You may want to check Kiki when we get back to HQ; she might have hurt her head more than she thinks."

Katrina chuckled. "Darling, I think you should have a talk with Kiki soon."

 **(Daisy's POV)**

I lied in my cage, head resting on my paws. Salty tears dripped down my cheeks. I missed my friend.

What had happened to Michael? Fun Michael who only listened to L.O.V.E.M.U.F.F.I.N. and made fun of all other authorities? Michael, the leader of our prank gang and our best friend?

Maybe I wouldn't be hurting as much if Michael talked to me, but the only person he's talked to out of us has been Courtney. Why her? Why did Michael only talk to her, when she was the one who seemed to have stopped caring about him? Why wouldn't he talk to ME? I couldn't even hear Courtney's end of their conversations because of the design of the stupid prison.

The bitterness towards L.O.V.E.M.U.F.F.I.N. I had gained years before grew a bit more as I realized something. THEY knew who Michael's parents were AND what division they were part of. If they hadn't assigned Michael to the American division, I wouldn't have lost my best friend.

 **(Kiki's POV)**

I stood by the door to Perry's office. This would change my life, for better or for worse. I'd either be humiliated until death or gain a friend- maybe more than just one friend.

Something told me it would probably be the first one. I knew Perry would never mock me or anything- like I have with him- but it would still be humiliating.

Heart pounding, I stretched my paw to the door and knocked. "You can come in," came Perry's voice.

I inhaled deeply, temporarily calming my nerves, and stepped into the office. Perry looked up, and I saw his eyes widen. "What is it, Kiki?"

My paws were shaking so much it was difficult to stand still. "I have an apology/confession to make." I blushed and continued. "Actually, it's twenty-nine years worth of apologies."

 **(Perry's POV)**

I raised my eyebrows: a sign for Kiki to continue.

The fox's cheeks turned an even deeper shade of red. "Well, it's not the case anymore, but...when I was younger..."

What on Earth was she trying to tell me? "Yes?"

"It's possible that the reason I treated you so rotten was because...well... Before Peter and I became mates, I, um..."

 _Just tell me!_ I inhaled and waited.

"I had a bit of a crush on you," Kiki finished speedily.

My eyes widened. "Seriously?"

Kiki blushed and nodded. "I mean, I honestly don't anymore, but before I found out about Peter's feelings for me..."

"Interesting way of showing it," I commented, trying to process this new information.

"Yeah..."

"Please explain."

"Well, I sort of _like_ liked you pretty much since we first met..." Kiki began.

I interrupted her, just trying to piece things together. "But you've treated me rotten since you first talked to me."

"I was scared," Kiki responded. "Scared that if I tried to talk with you while being myself I'd completely freeze and humiliate myself."

"So you tried to be assertive," I realized. "Which ended up being more like bullying."

Kiki blushed, and the red glow mixed in with her yellow fur, resulting in an orange flush in her cheeks. "And I guess that it became habit overtime. See Perry, treat him rotten."

The fox began stuttering, something I had never heard before. "I-I k-know that it's n-n-not a very good excu-excuse or anything, but-"

"Don't worry, I understand," I reassured, smiling. "Basically, the way you treated me was just a really bad attempt to flirt with me."

"Yeah, pretty much." Kiki rubbed the back of her neck sheepishly.

"Also explains why you were really mean to Pixie all those years."

"Jealousy." Kiki blinked. "I mean, I don't have it anymore, now that I've got my own family..."

"I know." A new thought struck me. "I also know there's no way it could have been just those reasons for every time you were mean to me..." I waited for her to answer the unspoken question. "Because I can think of a few times where you were really rotten to me, and it was too soon for it to have just been a habit."

"I was occasionally trying to impress Peter and his gang," Kiki admitted.

"Why does Peter hate me?"

"You stole his thunder," the fox explained. "Unknowingly, of course. He had been O.W.C.A's top agent in training before you joined."

"He did warn me not to get in the way when we first met," I realized. "Oops."

Kiki chuckled. "Well, it's been twenty years since we were even agents in training, and I'm his mate; I'll try to talk some sense into him."

I grinned, and Kiki spoke up again. "So... I'm sorry for how I've treated you your whole life..."

 **(Kiki's POV)**

Wow, that sentence made me sound even worse than I had been to Perry! Which was pretty bad...

So I was surprised when Perry smiled and shrugged. "It's okay."

My eyes widened. "Seriously? You're not angry for the ridiculous reasons or anything?"

"Why would I be? It's all in the past." Perry stood up and walked over to me, holding his paw out. "And if it's all behind both of us, maybe we could be friends?"

I grinned and shook his paw. "Friends."

"Oh, and maybe you could update Chrysalis on the subject?" Perry asked suddenly. "She and Emily share a class, and Michael teaches them... It ends disastrously every time."

"Like yesterday," I agreed. "The 'little terror' thing." Then I blinked. "Wow, it's hard to believe that was just yesterday!"

Perry chuckled. "It's been a long day. In fact," he checked his watch, "it's probably time to head home."

"Yeah, probably," I grinned.

 **(Michael's POV)**

I stared down at the ground as Dad mindlessly flew the rocketcar home. He seemed preoccupied with something. Emily and I exchanged a glance.

Mom must have noticed, too, because when we got home, she laid down on the couch next to him. "You are one distracted guy. What's going on?"

That was a signal for me to make myself scarce, which I did so quite quickly.

 **(...)**

I had moved to the rooftop. I sat on the edge of the roof, staring at the midnight blue sky sparkling with white and yellow stars.

Soon, I heard a motor whirring, so I turned around, only to see my sister step out of the chimney. Well, Chimney-Vator. Emily smiled and skipped over to me, hopping next to me. "Hey, big bro, what's up?"

"Just...thinking."

Emily cocked her head and smiled sweetly. "About what?"

I hesitated before replying. Emily and I had promised to tell each other pretty much everything; even though she was still young, I knew I could trust Emily with the secret not many others knew about. "I have a crush on someone."

My little sister's interest immediately doubled. "Really? Who?"

"You don't need to worry about it."

"Aw, come on, tell me! Please?" Great. Emily began nagging. "I'm your sister, you can tell me anything. Who is it? Please, can you tell me?"

I shot my sister an amused yet stern look. "Emily."

Emily glanced down at her lap. "Right, sorry."

 **(Emily's POV)**

Michael and I were silent for a few minutes before he brought up a completely random- or so it seemed- fact. "Grandma and Grandpa became mates at fifteen. Mom and Dad became mates at sixteen."

I blinked. "Okay, why...?"

My big brother turned and looked me in the eye. "I'm thirteen, and I have a crush on someone."

Ah. "Point taken." There was another couple beats of silence before I broke it, realizing something. "It's Courtney, isn't it?"

Michael turned to stare at me incredulously. "How did you know?"

"I've seen the way you look at her." There was suddenly something I really wanted to say that I knew I probably shouldn't have. But I said it anyway, smirking. "It's the way Dad looks at Mom."

My older brother rolled his eyes and shoved me. "Shut up."

I just giggled and continued. "You like Courtney, you like Courtney," I hummed.

Michael rolled his eyes again, smiling. "Real mature, Emily."

"Michael and Courtney sitting in a tree. K-I-S-S-I-N-G. First comes love, and then comes marriage, and then comes Michael with a baby carriage."

My brother just cocked his head. "Wasn't Lydia working on an animal version of that song?"

"I think so, but she couldn't think of a good word that rhymes with 'mating'."

"Ah."

We were silent until we heard the Chimney-Vator whir again and turned to look.

 **  
**

 **(Pixie's POV)**

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As soon as I stepped out of the hidden elevator, I spotted my children sitting at the edge of the roof, feet dangling off. I crossed my arms. "Emily, it is SO past your bedtime!"

"Sorry," Emily muttered, standing up and walking over behind me.

I looked back at Michael; he was staring into space. "You coming to bed yet, Michael?"

"Wait, why does HE get to choose what time he goes to bed?" I shot my daughter a stern look, and she sighed before going down the Chimney-Vator to get into bed.

Upon realizing Michael didn't reply, I turned back to him. "Michael?"

My son slowly shook his head, still staring at nothing. "Okay. You alright, sweetheart?"

This time, Michael slowly nodded, but I sure didn't believe him. "Well, your father and I are going to bed."

"Kay."

Michael was probably thinking about his dilemma with Courtney, which reminded me of something I needed to talk about with Perry. So I tried talking to my mate about it after we were in bed.

"Michael's turning fourteen in a couple weeks," I murmured quietly.

"Yeah," was Perry's mindless reply.

He was still preoccupied with what Kiki had told him- which he had told me about. And I couldn't blame him: that discovery put a whole new perspective on a ton of things. But my mate's mindlessness was just annoying when I was trying to have a serious talk with him.

I must have let some of my frustration show. "Perry, he's entering the age range in less than a month. You have to tell him soon!"

Perry seemed to recognize the seriousness in my tone. "And I will," he said softly, placing his paw on my cheek. "After he turns fourteen. No sooner."

Sighing, I looked down, and Perry smiled, kissing my forehead. "Night, Pixie. I love you."

"I love you too," I murmured, smiling and closing my eyes. Sleep came quickly.

 **0_0 Like I warned- your view on Kiki would completely change. If it somehow didn't, then... Wow.**

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 **And what is this mysterious age range that has now been mentioned twice? Find out soon enough: possibly next chapter I:} if you can't figure it out yourself...**


	11. Chapter 10

**I AM FINALLY UPDATING! So, so, so, so, SO sorry about that, guys! This chapter took a LOOOTTTT longer to write than I figured it would ;) It may seem like a litle bit of boring filler I could've skipped, but, trust me, I would have skipped it if I could've -_- -_- But don't worry, I should be getting back into my normal speed with this story. In fact, I'm already almost done with the next chapter…. So you might get two updates today! Yay! If I don't update again today, I will tomorrow**

 **I DO NOT OWN PHINEAS AND FERB. ANY CHARACTER YOU DO NOT RECOGNIZE IS PROBABLY MINE**

 **(Michael's POV)**

The next couple weeks passed by quickly, and I'm not sure whether to be grateful or wish they had lasted longer. I couldn't help but wonder how many people living in the house with me thought I didn't know what I was entering with my next birthday, but I did.

I'd be entering the worst possible age range for my current position- the range of fourteen to sixteen, in which most animals became mates. Mom and Dad had become mates at sixteen, but the most common age in that range was fifteen.

Anyway, even with those weeks thinking about it and preparing myself, I still wasn't ready for little Michael- apparently, he and I had become "big Michael" and "little Michael"- to shake me awake, aware of what the day was for me.

 **(Pixie's POV)**

I was definitely nervous about the day, and Michael was probably even more nervous. It was his birthday; my son was turning fourteen. For us, he was basically becoming an adult. And with his complicated position right now... I just hoped Michael appreciated what we were doing for him.

We always made his birthdays a big deal, even though, as Lydia pointed out, Perry and I had only missed four of his. Emily didn't know about Michael's past, so she didn't understand why we always treated his birthdays so specially. I hoped that she didn't think we were picking favorites because we weren't. We were just trying to make up for the four years Michael was away from us.

"Happy birthday!" came the familiar voice of Lydia's eight year-old son. There was the sign MY son was awake.

Sure enough, Michael wandered into the kitchen a couple minutes later, dazed from just waking up. I smiled at him. "Happy birthday, sweetheart."

"Thanks," he muttered.

"What is it?"

My son sighed. "I'm fourteen now. That's the last thing I need with my current problems."

I cocked my head and gave him a small sympathetic smile. "I'm sorry you're going through this, Michael. But today's gonna be fun- maybe that will help."

 **(Michael's POV)**

Just then, I discovered a delicious smell wafting out of the oven. "What's that?"

Lydia, who I just realized was in the kitchen, grinned. "Can't have a birthday without cake, can you?"

"There's two smells," I realized.

"Well," Lydia replied, smiling, "not all of us like worms and bugs. Some of us like regular cake."

"One cake was made all with magic," Mom said, smirking up at Lydia. "I think you can guess which one."

"Hey, I've touched a lot of gross things, but I'm never gonna touch- or cook with- bugs," Lydia responded.

"What'll Christine eat?" I grinned. "I don't think she likes either."

"If she doesn't like either then she'll probably just be quiet and watch everyone else eat," Lydia said. "I know her enough to know she won't complain. I'm still at war with myself over whether I'LL eat any or not."

Mom and I stared, and Lydia explained. "I don't really like cake."

"Seriously?" It wasn't until after I heard myself that I realized just how much I sounded like Mom then.

Lydia and Mom noticed, too. "Wow..." Lydia muttered. "Yeah, I'm not a big fan of the spongy-like texture of cake and cupcakes- and I don't exactly love the frosting, either. But, then again, that's only if it's store-bought."

I exchanged a jokingly shocked glance with Mom. At the same time, Dad came down the stairs. Emily wandered drowsily behind him, rubbing her eyes and yawning. "Dad," she whined, "why'd you wake me up so early?"

Dad, who had already made it down the stairs, sighed and turned to his daughter. "First of all, it's 9:47 in the morning. Second of all, today's your brother's birthday- you are not about to sleep in."

My little sister just huffed and crossed her arms.

 **(...)**

After several more "Happy birthdays" and another couple hours, Christine came over. Anyone could have predicted what she said. "Happy birthday!" And Pinky and Dr. Doofenshmirtz said the exact same thing when they came over.

Finally, we all sat down in the living room. I glanced around. Not many people. There was my family, Lydia's family, Christine, Dr. Doofenshmirtz, and Pinky. I wasn't ever real close to Phineas, Ferb, or Candace, so their families hadn't been invited.

Dad knew that I wasn't exactly excited about turning fourteen. In an attempt to lift my spirits, he began a conversation. "A lot happened when I was fourteen."

"Like what?" Well, it obviously caught Emily's attention.

Our dad grinned. "Let's see... I met aliens, helped superheroes, traveled to Paris, went to another dimension, helped defeat thousands of evil robots in the Tri-State Area..."

Mom had seemed perfectly nonchalant- like she had heard all the stories before- until the last one. "Why didn't you tell me about that?"

"I had assumed that the robots had made international news," Dad grinned.

"Not that I'm aware of..."

A thought seemed to strike me and Emily at the same time, but Emily voiced it first. "Wait a minute... Mom, if you're from Australia, why don't you have an accent?"

Mom grinned. "Technically, I'm American, sweetheart. I hatched in America, I just grew up in Australia."

"Your mother had a little bit of an accent when we met, but it's all gone now," Dad grinned.

Lydia suddenly teleported out of the living room, startling all of us- but Christine especially. She let out a little yowl and almost fell off her spot on the couch next to me. I couldn't help but smirk. "So cats being high-strung ISN'T an old wives' tale?"

"Shut up."

"Lunch, anyone?" Lydia suddenly called from the kitchen. "The cakes are ready, and we kind of need to eat an actual meal first."

"Becoming a mother has ruined you!" I called to her with a grin.

"Michael, I would have said that before I even met you." I could tell by the tone that Lydia was grinning as much as me.

Honestly, everything almost seemed to happen in a rush with Lydia after I reunited with my family. One day I thought she was single, the next we were getting invitations to her and Caleb's wedding. It was really cool getting to go to another universe, though, even if it was only for a day.

"Seriously, though," came Lydia's voice again. "Lunch is ready."

 **(...)**

Ever since Mom and Dad had become mates, there had been two tables in the dining room. The original one, with was where the humans sat, and the smaller one in which us animals sat.

Christine was sitting across the table from me. We made eye contact, and she smiled. I smiled back, though it was partly forced. For some reason, looking at Christine made me think of my problem with Courtney. But how? Christine couldn't have been related to it, right?

Thinking of my problem kind of ruined my appetite, but I managed to finish my lunch. Then Lydia brought out the cakes. Everyone sang Happy Birthday to me, which I actually quite enjoyed, since it was going to be the last time it was sung to me- I was actually lucky I got a party today, since I was becoming an adult.

There weren't any candles to blow out, which I was perfectly fine with. I had never been very good at blowing them; thanks to my stupid scar from L.O.V.E.M.U.F.F.I.N, I didn't have all that much core strength.

I barely managed to eat lunch, so dessert was practically impossible. Basically, I sat at the table, my head resting on my paw, my other paw picking at my cake with my fork.

"Michael, are you okay?" Mom asked. She glanced over at Dad, who had gotten one slice from each cake, and shook her head when he shrugged.

"I'm fine," I muttered, picking at the cake more. Mom obviously didn't believe me, and I couldn't blame her. I certainly didn't believe myself.

While Mom and Dad were both concerned, Emily was just confused as to why I wasn't eating my cake; she ate her own in practically one bite. Christine seemed concerned AND confused, and I don't think Pinky noticed at all because he was easily chatting with Dad. Everyone else was sitting at the other table, so they didn't notice either.

Unlike most birthday parties, there were actually no presents at this one. Which was honestly because I wanted it that way. When I was in L.O.V.E.M.U.F.F.I.N, the only present I had gotten all four years was the fedora that I'm presently using as an agent, and I had only gotten that because Dr. Doofenshmirtz managed to smuggle it into L.O.V.E.M.U.F.F.I.N's old hideout. Everyone took their families and friends for granted, while, for me, that was plenty.

The rest of the party went well; we talked and played a couple of games before Christine and Dr. Doofenshmirtz had to leave. Since Pinky lived right across the street, he didn't have to leave for another thirty minutes after Dr. Doofenshmirtz and Chris.

Everything kind of became normal again after the guests left. I ended up lying in my bed until dinner. Most animals got mates somewhere between fourteen and sixteen, and I was now fourteen. I had a crush on my dad's mortal enemy's daughter who seemed to hate me. Things were going to get even more complicated now.

 **Anyone fall asleep reading this? ….No one? Anyone think it was kind of rushed? Maybe it was…. Anyway, yay! I made references to different PnF episodes in the same paragraph! They include The Chronicles of Meap parts 1 & 2, Mission Marvel, Summer Belongs To You, and PnF: Across the Second Dimension **

**The next chapter's shorter, but there's a very important conversation at the beginning youll need to pay attention to… It should be a much more exciting chapter than this one was ;P**


	12. Chapter 11

**Yay! I did update again today! See? I'm making up for my long break on this story by posting at super-speed xD xD xD xD**

 **I DO NOT OWN PHINEAS AND FERB. ANY CHARACTER YOU DO NOT RECOGNIZE IS PROBABLY MINE.**

 **(Michael's POV)**

I was almost bored the next day. All the AIT's I normally taught had singular training today, so I didn't have a class.

Then I decided to go and see if Mom or Dad needed help with anything. I couldn't even find Mom, but Dad was in his office, working on something.

"Is there anything I can help with?" I asked.

Dad grinned. "Thanks for asking! Here." Dad got up and handed me a box of papers. "Would you mind sorting these out for me?"

I took the box and sat down on the floor, beginning to separate the sheets. Dad sat back in his chair, continuing to work on the computer. "There's something I need to talk with you about," Dad said after a couple minutes' silence.

"Okay, shoot."

Dad inhaled. "Michael, you're fourteen now; you've entered the age range of fourteen to sixteen." _Gee, Dad, thanks! It's not like I didn't know that or anything..._

"It's just natural, but you're going to start feeling drawn into romantic moments." Oh, it was going to be one of THOSE talks. "It's not going to stop until you're about seventeen."

"Okay..." I said slowly. "Why are you telling me this?"

"I haven't seen as much of Courtney as you have, but from what I've seen, she's a lot like her father." _Yep, she is._ "If she really is, then she'll stop at nothing to defeat us. If Courtney finds out your feelings for her, she'll take that as an advantage." I inhaled sharply as Dad finished. "She'll play along, pretending to return your feelings, so she can manipulate you."

"Basically, you're saying that if Courtney finds out I have a crush on her, she's gonna use me to take O.W.C.A. down."

"I'm afraid so."

"But how do I know whether it's genuine, or if Courtney's just faking it?" This was going to be hard.

"I don't know," Dad admitted. "That's something you'll need to figure out yourself. The most advice I can offer you is try to stay away from those moments."

"I'm interrogating her in one week. How do I do that?" I inquired slightly irritably. Earlier, Major Monogram had cornered me and told me that I'd be interrogating her. It figured.

"Your mother is going to help you." Dad paused, and his tone changed a bit. "Now, why don't you go help Emily with her training? I can finish up here."

"Alright." I got up and walked out of Dad's office, but what he said was bugging me. Now that I was in the age range, did that mean that I'd want to...to do a bit more with Courtney? Or anyone else I gained romantic feelings for, whether just a crush or actual love?

Luckily, I made it to the gym while I was thinking, and that's when I saw my little sister. Emily was lying on the gym floor...not doing anything. "Shouldn't you be training?"

"I have no motivation," she sighed.

I smirked. "Oh, well, I can give you motivation." Then I bent down and began tickling Emily. She squealed and giggled and kicked, but she couldn't throw me off.

"Okay! Okay!" Emily squeaked through giggles. "I'll get started!"

 **(...)**

My little sister had apparently decided that it would be best to get the worst done first because she began running laps around the gym. Laps in a regular school gym are probably bad enough, but this gym was about three times the size of a normal gym. That meant that three laps at O.W.C.A's gym was approximately worth nine normal laps. But I was nice and only gave her two laps to run.

I could tell that Emily was getting tired when she began her second lap, so I began to guide her along. "And you're running, and you're running, and you're running, and you're-"

"And you'll shut up!" Emily managed to call about halfway through the second lap.

"And I'll shut up," I immediately agreed with a bit of a grin.

It was about a minute later that Emily made it back over to me, chest heaving. "How'd I do?"

"Oh, I didn't realize I was supposed to time it..."

Emily's eyes widened. "What?!" Her voice was the mixture of a shriek and a squeak.

I broke into laughter. "Don't worry, I'm just kidding." I held up the timer. "Three minutes, fifty-seven seconds. You're getting better."

My little sister inhaled to calm herself before glaring at me. "Don't do that to me! I nearly had a heart attack!" I just chortled in reply. Emily rolled her eyes, shook her head, and sighed. "Boys."

 **(...)**

After helping Emily, I decided to check in on Courtney, Daisy, and Leo. However, I couldn't work up the nerve to talk to Courtney. For a minute I considered talking to Daisy or Leo then decided against it. _They probably hate me just as much._

 **(Courtney's POV)**

I lied in my cell, watching Michael leaning against the doorway. He seemed like he wanted to come in, but he was hesitating. That's when a smaller platypus- this one a female- walked over to him. _Must be his sister._

Now I was grateful for my large ears. I leaned as close as I could without drawing attention to myself. Their conversation was slightly muffled, but I could still make it out.

"Hey, Emily," Michael said.

"What's it like?" "Emily asked curiously, glancing over at me.

"What's what like?"

"What's it like to have a crush on someone you know you can't be with?"

I raised an eyebrow at that. _Oh?_

"Awful," Michael sighed. "Just hope you don't ever have to deal with it."

"Trust me, I am." The two platypi were silent for a little before "Emily" spoke up again. "I can see why you like Courtney."

Michael immediately turned to look at her, his cheeks lightly red. "What?!"

"Emily" smirked a little. "She seems like your type."

"How exactly do you know what 'my type' is?"

Now "Emily" changed the subject. "But what about Christine?"

"Excuse me?"

"Emily" gasped and grinned. "You don't know? Alright, then I'm staying quiet." She walked off.

Michael turned around. "What do you mean?" He ran after her.

I smirked as I sat in my cage, pondering what I had just heard. Michael had a crush on me? This changed an awful lot of the situation.

 **Well…. If you paid attention this whole chapter, Michael's in a really big pickle now…..**

 **Michael: *crosses arms* And whose fault is that?**

 **Me: …**


	13. Chapter 12

**Hi, guys! It's the next chapter! ;P So, get your headphones/speakers ready because there's a song appearing this chapter! I would recommend getting it ready to listen to right now because it's totally epic to read this chapter with the song playing! Ready for the song? Drumroll, please! *drums roll in background* ….Sofia Carson's version of Rotten to the Core from the Disney movie Descendants! If you do decide to listen to the song while reading, start up the song at the line "To help myself, I began singing the song I had been thinking of."**

 **I DO NOT OWN PHINEAS AND FERB OR THE SONG ROTTEN TO THE CORE. ANY CHARACTER YOU DO NOT RECOGNIZE IS PROBABLY MINE**

 **Oh, and, btw, THIS CHAPTER IS RATED SLIGHTLY HIGHER T THAN THE OTHER CHAPTERS**

 **(Courtney's POV)**

While I sat in my cage one week later, I thought of a song that we used to always sing. "We" being me, Daisy, Leo, and...and Michael. I felt my heart ache a little before completely realizing it DID ache. _He's just the enemy,_ I reminded myself. _He is just the enemy. He is just the enemy._

To help myself, I began singing the song I had been thinking of. " _They say I'm trouble; they say I'm bad. They say I'm evil, and that makes me glad._ " That had been Daisy's part.

" _A dirty no-good, down to the bone. Your worst nightmare can't take me home._ " That part had been Leo's.

" _So I got some mischief in my blood; can you blame me? I never got no love._ " That part had always been mine.

" _They think I'm callous, a low-life hood. I feel so useless- misunderstood._ " Then that... That had been Michael's part.

 _No!_ I scolded myself. _Don't think about Michael. Keep singing._

" _Mirror, Mirror, on the wall, who's the baddest of them all? Welcome to my wicked world, wicked world._

" _I'm rotten to the core, rotten to the core. I'm rotten to the core, who could ask for more? I'm nothing like the kid next, like the kid next door. I'm rotten to the- I'm rotten to the core._ "

While I was singing, a bulldog agent had come into the prison room. He opened up my cell with a pair of handcuffs while I continued to sing. " _Listen up now! Call me a schemer; call me a freak. How can you say that? I'm just unique._

" _What, me? A traitor? Ain't got your back?_ " I turned to look at the bulldog. " _Are we not friends?_ " I scoffed. " _What's up with that?_ "

The bulldog roughly pulled me out of the cell and onto my feet. As we walked through O.W.C.A's HQ, I just continued to sing.

" _So I'm a misfit; so I'm a flirt. I broke your heart- I made you hurt. The past is past. Forgive, forget_." We passed a few agents. " _The truth is, 'You ain't seen nothing yet'!_

" _Mirror, Mirror, on the wall, who's the baddest of them all? Welcome to my wicked world, wicked world._

" _I'm rotten to the core, rotten to the core. I'm rotten to the core, who could ask for more? I'm nothing like the kid next, like the kid next door. I'm rotten to the- I'm rotten to the core._ "

By now we had reacted the interrogation room- so THAT's where I was headed. As we stepped in, I spotted Michael and smirked. Beside him was an older looking female platypus I slightly recognized from nine years before as his mom.

" _Original, unusual. You can say what you want, but we will always be rotten to the core. Rotten to the core._ "

Michael's eyes widened, but he didn't say anything.

" _Rotten to the core, who could ask for more? I'm nothing like the kid next, like the kid next door. I'm rotten to the, I'm rotten to the- I'm rotten to the core, rotten to the core. I'm rotten to the core, who could ask for more? I'm nothing like the kid next, like the kid next door. I'm rotten to the- I'm rotten to the core._ "

I giggled flirtatiously- it was completely fake- as I finished, remembering that Michael had a crush on me. "Remember when we used to sing that song together, Michael?" I kept a little tint of bitterness to my tone.

"I don't recognize that version," Michael replied calmly.

"It's the solo version I came up with myself. Kind of hard to sing a four-person song when there's only three of us." I had a smile plastered on my face, but I was making it obviously fake and letting my true bitterness towards him shine through.

Michael winced and looked at the ground.

 **(Michael's POV)**

Barry shoved Courtney forward more- which was a mistake, it just got her closer to me- before shooting me a glare and saying, "I'm standing guard. The rest is your problem." He stepped out of the interrogation room and slammed the door.

Mom shot Courtney an, "I'm watching you" look as soon as Barry was gone. "Go ahead and sit down," I said as roughly as I could.

Courtney slid into her seat without fuss. "Okay, but I'm not going to say anything." Her tone was light and calm.

"Now-" I began.

"This is your first, isn't it?" Courtney spoke up suddenly.

"Excuse me," Mom said, crossing her arms. "Who's supposed to be asking the questions?"

I blinked. "What do you mean?"

"I mean that this is your first interrogation, right?" I nodded slowly; it didn't do any harm for the rabbit to know that. Courtney grinned. "Aw, and you're using it on me. I feel so special."

"Well, it's my first interrogation I've led," I defended, "but it's not my first interrogation ever."

"Oh, right! You must have been interrogated when you were captured nine years ago." Courtney's eyes narrowed. "When you were still part of the Anti-O.W.C.A."

"He was actually slightly helpful," Mom added. "Like I'm hoping you'll be."

Courtney scoffed. "What do you know? Michael was always a traitor." She glared at me. "But no worries- I'M loyal."

I inhaled. "You're loyal to your family," I said slowly. "And so am I."

"I don't have a family," she muttered. "But what about your friends? Hm? I guess you're not loyal to them."

That felt like a slap, but I didn't know how to reply. Mom saved me by beginning the interrogation.

 **(...)**

If you count Courtney not saying a word as "smooth", then the interrogation went quite smoothly.

Mom was beginning to get frustrated; I could tell, and I think Courtney could to. Then I asked, "Why did you say that you don't have a family?"

"My mom abandoned me to L.O.V.E.M.U.F.F.I.N, and my dad didn't even know I existed until nine years ago. Oh, and he's stuck in a jail cell," Courtney replied lightly. She looked me in the eye. "But I guess that's your fault, isn't it?"

"Excuse me?" Okay, now Mom's attitude was coming out in me.

"I MEAN, you're the one who betrayed L.O.V.E.M.U.F.F.I.N. and got Dad thrown back in prison."

I could tell that Mom was getting angry at Courtney for the way she was treating me. Mom's paws were slowly clenching up into fists, and her fingers were beginning to dig into the palms of her paws. "Mom-"

Just then, the door opened.

 **(Courtney's POV)**

Both Michael and his mother whirled towards the door to see an eagle agent step through. "Pixie, Major Monogram needs you."

Grateful for the distraction, I immediately began trying to work my paws out of my handcuffs.

 **(Michael's POV)**

"Well, you can tell Major Monogram he'll have to deal with whatever problem he has by himself," Mom retorted coldly. "Why me and not Perry?"

"Perry's on a mission, and you're O.W.C.A's second best."

"Shame for Major Monogram, then. I'm helping my son."

"Pixie, he really needs you."

I turned to Mom. "Mom, don't worry. I've got this." I swallowed down the bile that had risen up to my mouth in my anxiety. Of course I was nervous about being left alone with Courtney after what Dad told me, but I wasn't going to let Mom know.

Mom hesitated, glancing between me, Courtney, and Ethan. "Are you sure, sweetheart?"

"Yes," I said, glancing back to Courtney. She smiled angelically at me.

Now Mom hesitated again and inhaled deeply. "Well... Alright." She followed Ethan out the interrogation room. "I'll be back as soon as I can."

Almost as soon as the door closed, Courtney spoke up behind me. "So it's just the two of us now?"

"Yeah." I turned back to Courtney, and my eyes widened.

Somehow, the rabbit had slipped out of her handcuffs and placed them on the table. She was now standing up and smiling at me, her arms crossed. Okay, I couldn't do this. "I've got to go."

Courtney's voice was light and innocent. "Why?"

 _To get help,_ I thought. But I didn't voice it; instead I came up with the most horrible excuse ever. "I-I need to check on everyone- you kn-know, make sure that th-th-they are okay." _Smooth, Michael,_ I thought sarcastically _. Real smooth._

"But it's just the two of us." Courtney began walking closer to me.

"That's another reason," I said nervously, fiddling with the door handle. I didn't manage to get it open before Courtney got too close for comfort, so I slowly backed up to the table instead.

But, of course, Courtney just followed. "Oh, come on, Michael. I know the way you feel about me."

"Y-you do?" This was very not good.

Courtney was now directly in front of me. "Yeah, why run away from it?" She walked her fingers up my torso.

"I can't trust you, that's why." My breathing was shallow and loud now.

I was leaning back as much as I could, but Courtney was leaning forward towards me, holding herself with on paw on the table- right next to mine.

"But we're so close," Courtney murmured innocently. "All you have to do is lean forward."

She was right; her lips and my beak were less than an inch apart. All I had to do was lean forward, and we'd kiss. _But you shouldn't,_ I reminded myself.

Then I began an inward argument. _But you CAN, so why not? You've wanted to do this for a while now._

 _She's just trying to seduce you, though,_ I told myself.

 _But still, it sounds nice, right?_

 _Yes... What should I do?!_

 **Dun, dun, DUN!**

 **Oh, and if you imagined Courtney singing in Sofia Carson/Evie's actual voice, A-plus! Because that's what I had intended!**


	14. Chapter 13

" **What time is it, Ms. Shark?"**

" **Cliffhanger Resolution Time!"**

 **I DO NOT OWN PHINEAS AND FERB. ANY CHARACTER YOU DO NOT RECOGNIZE IS PROBABLY MINE**

 **(Perry's POV)**

I rolled my eyes as I got back to HQ. Now that most of L.O.V.E.M.U.F.F.I.N. was in prison and Doof wasn't evil anymore, O.W.C.A. agents didn't have as many missions as they used to. Which meant that when we did get missions, they were even worse than usual.

The idiot I had fought was even more of an imbecile than Doof- I couldn't even remember that guy's name- had been; and THAT was saying something.

 _I wonder how Pixie and Michael are doing with Courtney,_ was my thought as I entered HQ. Then I saw Pixie walking through the halls. By herself.

"Pixie, where's Michael?" I asked, running up to her.

"He's interrogating Courtney."

I couldn't believe what I was hearing. "You left Michael ALONE with Courtney?!"

"Look, I'm sorry! I'm one my way back right now!"

"Pixie, this is serious! Why'd you leave them alone?!"

"It's not like I had a choice!" Pixie snapped back.

I sighed in frustration and ran to the interrogation room, hearing Pixie following.

 **(Michael's POV)**

"Come on, you know you want to." Courtney's voice brought me out of my argument. Only temporarily, though.

I was taking in shallow, ragged breaths trying to figure out what to do.

 _Come on, what's one time? No one will know._

 _But you'll know; isn't that enough? Besides, if you fall for Courtney this one time, she'll manage to take control of you and take down O.W.C.A._

While I inwardly argued- although it felt like I myself had no say and was listening to two completely different people- with myself, Dad's warning popped into my head. _"If Courtney finds out your feelings for her, she'll take that as an advantage. She'll play along, pretending to return your feelings, so she can manipulate you."_

 _How does THAT help? You already knew that..._

 _What did you already know?_

 _Courtney's manipulating you._ A lightbulb hit me and dimmed out the argument in my head just for a moment; but I didn't hesitate. _Courtney's manipulating you._ As soon as that thought struck me I began acting on it.

I silently reached for the handcuffs Courtney had placed on the table. _Courtney's manipulating you._ The next thought hurt a lot, but I had to think it in order to fight back the urge to completely fall for the rabbit. _She doesn't care about you- not really._

Now the handcuffs were in my paws. "I'm sorry, Courtney." As quick as lighting, I grabbed the rabbit's paws and handcuffed her. Then I grabbed a- conveniently located nearby- rope and tied her to the chair. It was difficult, since my paws were shaking from what I had just dealt with, but I still succeeded at tying her tight enough to keep her there.

My paws continued to shake, and I had to breathe deeply to temporarily calm myself. Then I grabbed my phone and called up Major Monogram. "The interrogation's over; now I need someone to come pick Courtney up." I heard my voice shake a little but didn't care.

For some reason, Barry had left his post outside the door, but he had locked the door before he left, so Courtney couldn't escape. That's why I hadn't been able to open the door up when I needed to. But now Barry was back, and he was returning Courtney to her cell.

After he took Courtney back, I walked to my cubicle to recover from my ordeal.

 **(Perry's POV)**

When we made it to the interrogation room, it had already finished. Luckily, Pixie and I knew exactly where Michael had gone. I was still sort of angry at my mate for leaving our son alone with Courtney. "It looks like everything's okay, but why did you leave Michael?"

"Perry, I'm sorry! It's not like I had a choice!"

"But why did you leave?!"

"Major Monogram practically ordered me to help with something!" Pixie retorted, turning to look at me with a glare in her eyes. "If YOU had been here, he would have sent for you, and I could've stayed with Michael!"

We had been walking to Michael's cubicle while we argued, and, by now, several agents were staring. Now aware of this, I inhaled deeply and stopped, Pixie next to me.

She placed a paw on my shoulder. "Perry, you know that if I had a choice, I would have stayed near our son. I'm sorry that I let you down; I honestly let myself down, too. I hated leaving Michael, but I had to."

It was impossible for me to stay mad at, well, almost anyone, but Pixie especially. I glanced over to her. She was smiling hopefully at me. I smiled back and wrapped an arm around her. It was, basically, our silent apology.

We never had very long arguments. Maximum, they were only, like, two hours, and that was because we needed time by ourselves to cool off. It was different than most couples, but, although Pixie definitely was at times, I wasn't very prone to arguing. That was probably part of it.

I kissed my mate's cheek. "Let's just check on Michael and make sure he's okay."

 **(Courtney's POV)**

I growled in frustration as Barry led me back to my cell. I had been so close! In fact, if I hadn't been a total idiot and placed my handcuffs on the table I would have wrapped Michael around my finger.

My heart was hammering wildly in my chest, despite my calm, cold appearance, and I couldn't figure out why. _It's just because it was your first time trying this,_ I reminded myself. _You were nervous; you'll get better at it._

But some part of me knew this wasn't true. I had used the fact that I needed to control Michael as my excuse to get that close to him. I didn't just want to seduce him... I actually really wanted to kiss him. My heart- which had begun fluttering when I got close to him- let me know that.

 _Maybe you shouldn't have waited for Michael to make the first move. Then you'd have gotten both of the things you wanted, instead of neither of them._

 **(Michael's POV)**

I was sitting at my desk, my head resting on top. I was bouncing my pencil off of my fingers and rolling it along the desk when I heard a knock. I whirled around to see Mom and Dad in the "doorless doorway", so to speak.

"Michael, I'm so sorry for leaving you like that!" Mom began. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, Mom. And don't be sorry; I'm the one who said you could go. I didn't realize what happened would happen."

"What did happen?" Dad asked, walking up to me.

I explained the interrogation problems. "It's hard to believe we used to be best friends. Now they hate me, and one of them is trying to control me." My voice cracked. "I used to think that my life wasn't at all easy or simple, but now I wish it would just go back to the way it was before!"

Dad hugged me, and Mom came over and joined in. For the next few minutes, I sat silently, taking comfort in my parents' embrace.

 **(Emily's POV)**

When my class got word that Michael wouldn't be able to teach us and Christine would be teaching instead, the whole class was buzzing about it. Even WHILE Christine was teaching, which obviously bugged her.

After the class, I was training when I heard Chrysalis talking about it with her friends. "Honestly, I'm relieved that we got an obviously loyal agent for a teacher today."

"What are you talking about?" I asked, placing the ball I was tossing around on the floor. "Michael's as loyal as they come!" I knew that I was messing with the bull, and I'd probably regret it, but I wasn't going to just let Chrysalis talk bad about my big brother.

Chrysalis scoffed and turned to look at me, her arms crossed. "You don't know, do you?"

I mirrored the fox's position. "Know what?"

"Michael's 'secret'." On "secret", Chrysalis made air quotes.

"I know all of Michael's secrets. We tell each other everything."

Chrysalis chuckled, which scared me a little. "Obviously not. Don't you know want to know why my parents don't like Michael?"

"First off, your mom is beginning to be nice to my family," I retorted. "And second... Why?"

"Michael nearly killed my dad."

 _What?!_ "Michael wouldn't do that! Why do you even expect me to believe it?!"

"Do you know much about Michael from before you were born?"

I scoffed. "Not definitely, but it's fairly obvious. He lived with Mom, Dad, Phineas, Ferb, Linda, Lawrence, Lydia, and her family until I hatched."

"Oh, really? Then why did he not join O.W.C.A. until you did?"

"He didn't really want to," I answered simply. "That's the same reason he's an office agent and not a field agent."

"Well, that's part of it," Chrysalis replied nonchalantly, "but he wasn't even allowed to join for a while."

"And why not?"

 **(Chrysalis' POV)**

Keeping in mind what Dad had told me, I settled on telling Michael's sister the blunt truth. "Emily, he's evil!"

Emily scoffed again. "Nice try."

"Or, at least, he was. Do you want to know the truth about Michael's past?"

"You can tell me. Whether I believe it or not is a whole other matter, though."

"Michael was raised by L.O.V.E.M.U.F.F.I.N."

 **(Emily's POV)**

My eyes widened at the ridiculous statement; just how far was this fox willing to go? "Yeah, right."

"Think about it," Chrysalis continued. "Michael spends all his time with those animals from L.O.V.E.M.U.F.F.I.N, yet no one else in O.W.C.A. does. It's almost like he's known them forever."

Chrysalis made a point. _And Michael has now been crushing on Courtney for weeks; there's no way that it started up almost as soon as Michael had seen her a month ago._

Another thought struck me, and I remembered what Lydia had said the night Courtney, Daisy, and Leo had arrived in our house. _"L.O.V.E.M.U.F.F.I.N. is aware of your previous friendship, so they sent these three in hopes they could trick you into following them. Straight into a trap."_ And she had been speaking to Michael.

Dread began creeping slowly into my stomach, but I ignored it. I wasn't going to believe Chrysalis until I heard from Michael himself. "You're being ridiculous," I insisted.

 **(Michael's POV)**

After Mom and Dad left, I remembered how Christine had taken over my class for the day, since I was in charge of the interrogation. I decided to go check in on them and see if everything was okay.

When I reached the gym, the class was over. I saw Emily and Chrysalis talking to each other, and that worried me.

Emily spotted me and waved me over. "Michael! You're just who I wanted to see." She turned to face Chrysalis. "Would you mind blaming this fox of lying?"

"What?" Well, I missed SOMETHING...

"Chrysalis claims that you were raised by L.O.V.E.M.U.F.F.I.N- could you please point out how idiotic that idea is?"

I couldn't believe what I was hearing. Chrysalis' face was smug, and she smiled steadily at me. "You told her?!"

Emily's confident posture vanished, and she turned to me. "What?"

"It was time she knew, right, Michael?" Chrysalis sounded annoyingly innocent.

"You told her," I repeated in shock.

Emily tried to keep a smile on her face. "Michael, what do you mean? There's no way you were raised by them, right? You're not a bad guy."

I bent down to my little sister's height and looked her in the eye. "Emily, I didn't want you to find out this way."

"Wait... It's true?!" Suddenly, Emily looked hurt and betrayed.

I nodded grimly. My little sister stared at me, obviously on the brink of tears. "B-b-b-b-but I-I-I-I-I-I... Y-y-y-y-y-you..." Emily never got her thought out; she was out of the gym before she made it past "you".

"I swear, someday I will kill you," I growled to Chrysalis before I ran after Emily. _Oh, please don't tell me I just lost my little sister!_

 **And…. It's another cliffhanger… xD xD xD xD**

 **Do you hate Chrysalis? I'd say I do, but I know her future…. xP xP xP**


	15. Chapter 14

**It's a semi-cliffhanger resolution!**

 **I DO NOT OWN PHINEAS AND FERB. ANY CHARACTER YOU DO NOT RECOGNIZE IS PROBABLY MINE**

 **(Pixie's POV)**

I heard footsteps and turned around on my chair, which had originally been facing the desk. Emily was standing in my cubicle, her eyes glassy. "Emily?"

Emily crossed her arms and gazed steadily, obviously trying to hold back tears. "I need to talk with you and Dad."

"About what, sweetheart?"

Just then, Michael peeked his head in. "Emily?"

My daughter ignored him. A thought hit me. "Emily, why don't you want to talk with Michael also?"

Both of my kids stayed silent. "Oh, please don't tell me you're arguing!" For siblings, those two hardly ever argued. In fact, they argued less than Perry and I; that meant that when they did argue, it was BAD.

"We're not arguing," Michael began hesitantly. "Right, Emily...?" Was that a hint of desperation in my son's voice?

Emily continued to ignore him. Instead, she spoke to me. "You, Dad, and Michael have been keeping secrets from me. Now I want the full truth, and nothing but the truth."

"About what?"

"Why didn't you tell me Michael was raised by L.O.V.E.M.U.F.F.I.N?"

My eyes widened, but I decided to send a message to my mate before asking any questions.

Perry arrived almost immediately; since he and I were mates, I had gotten a cubicle not far from his office when I became an agent. "Yeah?" He froze as soon as he saw Emily and Michael in the cubicle as well. "What's going on?"

"I'm not sure, but we missed something." I looked at Emily and asked the question I had wanted to ask since Emily said she wanted the full truth about Michael's past. "If Michael told you his past, then why are you asking us?"

"He DIDN'T tell me," Emily retorted bitterly, her arms crossed. "Chrysalis did."

I turned back to Perry. "But I thought that you and Kiki were going to be- well, friendly to each other, if nothing else."

"And I thought I told Kiki to let Chrysalis know..." Perry murmured. "I'll talk to her about it."

"What I don't get it why CHRYSALIS told me, and not Michael himself!" Emily sounded really hurt. "Or you or Dad!"

Perry and I glanced out of the cubicle and spotted a couple agents watching, even though they quickly looked away when they realized we saw them. Perry sighed. "Let's talk in my office; we'll actually get privacy there."

 **(...)**

Once we were all sitting on the floor in Perry's office, Emily repeated what she had earlier said in a different wording. "Why exactly was it a bully who told me about my brother's past and not one of my own FAMILY members?!"

Perry and I glanced at Michael, but he was silent, so I answered. "He was going to tell you in his own time."

"Oh, yeah?!" Emily snapped, her eyes narrowed. She turned to Michael. "When?! When I was sixteen?! And what would you have told me then, hm? Anything more than just that you didn't spend your whole life with Mom and Dad?"

The fire fell out of her eyes and was replaced by hurt. "I thought we told each other everything! I certainly told you all of my secrets! Yet, it turns out that you were keeping your most important secret from me!" The tears were beginning to trickle out of my daughter's eyes. "I trusted you... Why didn't YOU trust ME?"

Michael sighed, his eyes glassy. This was obviously bothering him just as much as it was Emily. "Emily, every time someone found out about my past, they'd hate me. The first person who didn't was Ted-" Michael stopped himself, but all of us knew who he was talking about, including Emily. "I was scared you'd hate me, too."

"Sweetheart, what all did Chrysalis say about Michael's past?" I asked my daughter.

"All she said was, 'Michael was raised by L.O.V.E.M.U.F.F.I.N'. Then Michael came in and admitted it was true."

"Well, there's more to the story than that," Perry replied. "That Chrysalis doesn't even know about."

 **(Michael's POV)**

Mom and Dad explained the complete story of my life in the Anti-O.W.C.A, starting with my hatching in a L.O.V.E.M.U.F.F.I.N. jail cell and ending with my turning good when I was four. I had heard/explained it thousands of times before- not to mention I had experienced it- so this time I just ignored it and nervously fiddled with my fur.

It had been a habit of mine my whole life, but L.O.V.E.M.U.F.F.I.N. had practically broken me out of it. Then I joined O.W.C.A, and it came back.

Emily was silent the whole time Mom and Dad explained, but she spoke up as soon as they finished. "Wait... Michael's four years older than me! So how come he didn't turn good until then? And why have I seen him basically my whole life?"

This time, I answered. "You were always wondering where I had been during your first couple weeks. I was still on L.O.V.E.M.U.F.F.I.N's side at that time."

"Oh..."

"When you and I met? That was the same day I joined Mom and Dad's side."

"Emily," Mom said, "don't doubt your brother's loyalty for even a second. Okay? When he left L.O.V.E.M.U.F.F.I.N. and joined O.W.C.A, not many people trusted him. Many of them still don't. Which is why Michael's worked twice as hard as most of O.W.C.A. to prove his loyalty. He's more loyal than almost every other agent O.W.C.A's ever had."

Emily was quiet for a few minutes, and, when she did speak up again, it was quiet. "Why were you so scared I'd hate you?"

"Because you've been one of my best friends forever- as well as my sister- and I didn't want to lose you," I replied nervously.

"You said it yourself: we've been best friends forever. Why would that suddenly change because of something I just found out?" Emily paused. "Did you ever kill anyone?"

That was like a slap in the face. Did my little sister now not trust me so much she thought I had committed murder?! "No, of course not!"

"Then why would I hate you?"

"What?"

Emily smiled. "You're my big brother, and you always have been. Why would that change now?"

I couldn't believe what I was hearing. "Y-you don't hate me?"

"How could I? Your past is the same even if I'm only just now finding it out; you're still the same person."

"When exactly did you get so wise?" Dad and I asked in unison. All four of us then laughed.

 **(Kiki's POV)**

I was sitting in my cubicle, working on paperwork, when I heard footsteps and turned around. Perry was smiling at me. "Hey."

"Can I come in?"

"Why not? You're standing right on the edge anyway." After Perry stepped in, I asked, "What is it?"

Perry hesitated. "You did let Chrysalis know to start being nicer to my kids, right?"

"Yeah..." Did he seriously not trust me? Well, I guess I couldn't blame him. "Why? What happened?"

"Chrysalis," Perry replied darkly. "She told Emily about Michael's past with L.O.V.E.M.U.F.F.I.N."

I blinked. "Emily didn't know?"

"Michael was going to tell her in his own time. But then Chrysalis came along and ruined that for him. He practically lost his sister because of your daughter."

A growl rose up in my throat as Perry accused my daughter, but I forced it down again. "I don't know why; I told Chrysalis to start being nicer to Michael and Emily the exact same day we agreed on it, and she agreed with me."

I paused then said, "I'll talk to her."

Perry smiled. "Thanks, Kiki."

"No prob." After Perry walked off, I turned back to my work. I didn't get it; I told Chrysalis to stop bullying Emily, why didn't she?

 **(...)**

I found out soon enough. When I asked my daughter why, her response was, "Dad didn't agree with what you said. He told me to tell Emily."

"What?" Peter told Chrysalis to do that?

"Dad's been telling me a lot to do," Chrysalis continued. "He told me to do that, he told me to-"

But I didn't want to know. "Alright, thank you, sweetheart. I want you to listen to my word over your father's, though, okay?"

"Okay."

I needed to talk with my mate.

 **(...)**

As soon as I left Chrysalis, I headed for Peter's cubicle. He smiled when he saw me. "Hey, sunshine."

I scoffed. "Don't 'sunshine' me."

Peter raised an eyebrow. "What's going on?"

"You tell me," I retorted. "First, Perry comes into my cubicle and tells me that Chrysalis is still bullying Emily, despite the fact that I told her I wanted her to start being nicer. Then, when I talk to Chrysalis, she says you told her to do it."

Peter's smile faded as I continued. "Is she true?"

"Kiki, I don't like how suddenly you expect me- as well as Chrysalis- to be nice to Perry, of all of O.W.C.A's agents." My mate's face was one of disgust.

I rolled my eyes at Peter's immaturity, despite my anger. "So you had our daughter bully his just because of a petty grudge?"

"I wouldn't call it petty..."

Now I gave Peter a look. "Okay, maybe it is a bit... But it was worth it."

"Grow up, Peter," I retorted.

"What?"

"We're not kids anymore; we've got a daughter. And if you keep telling her to do stuff like that, she won't be any different from the way we were!"

Peter seemed slightly taken aback at my sharp tone. "And that's a problem?"

"Yes!" I sighed and calmed myself. "Think, Peter! We spent our entire childhoods bullying the people we had a problem with. Who likes us now?"

My mate hesitated. I let a bit more of my anger show. "And just how many rotten things have you told Chrysalis to do to Emily?! This has been a problem between them for years! Just how much of it was caused by you?" My voice cracked a bit, and that alone was more than I wanted. I placed my paws over my mouth to stifle a sob.

Several agents were probably watching by now, but I didn't care. Apparently, neither did Peter because his eyes widened, and he walked over to me. "Kiki..."

His arms pulled me into a hug, but I shook myself out of his grasp. "I-I can't believe you, Peter!"

Peter looked genuinely hurt. "K-Kiki, I-I-I..."

"Pete, I love you, but I can't believe you're ruining our little girl like this!" Tears began to blur my vision, and I scolded myself for appearing so weak in O.W.C.A. "You're making our daughter seem like a monster, even though both of us know she's not!"

My mate tried to hug me again, and, again, I pulled out of his grip. "Kiki..."

"I-" I inhaled deeply and wiped an eye with my paw. "I need to go." I turned and walked out of Peter's cubicle, trying to hold back more tears as I walked by the on-looking agents. _What is wrong with my mate?_

 **(Michael's POV)**

Mom, Emily, and I waited for Dad to get back with Kiki's explanation of why Chrysalis did- well, what she did- to Emily in the hall. We chatted a bit before Dad came back.

"Well?" Mom asked.

"Kiki said that-" Dad was interrupted by a heavy panting and nervous whimpering.

All four of us whirled around to see Hunter the hedgehog- Herman the hedgehog's son- running up to us. His face was pale, and he seemed to be shaking with fear.

"Hunter!" all four of us exclaimed. Not quite in unison but fairly close.

Mom bent down to her knees to reach the child's eye level- he was only five. "What's wrong?"

Hunter continued to shiver. He gasped for breath in between words. "D-d-dad and I... W-w-we were in t-t-the O.W.C.A-Traz."

That didn't surprise me. After I joined O.W.C.A, Major Monogram and the O.W.C.A-Traz Warden decided that not only could O.W.C.A's five top agents- Dad, Mom, Pinky, Herman, and Peter- go to the O.W.C.A-Traz, but so could their children, as long as they were with their parent who was in the top five. Basically, that meant Hunter, Chrysalis, Emily and I were the only O.W.C.A. animals other than the top five who could get into the O.W.C.A-Traz. Not like I had any interest going there again.

"What happened there, Hunter?" Mom asked gently.

"T-t-there... G-g-giant... Giant r-r-robot..." The poor child looked traumatized.

"Hunter, where's your father?" Dad asked.

"K-Katrina's office."

 **(Perry's POV)**

That was all I needed to know. While Pixie and our kids took care of Hunter, I headed to Katrina's office to check on Herman. He was O.W.C.A's fourth best, so that meant if something injured him badly enough to be in Katrina's office, it was bad.

Luckily, all Herman had was a broken arm. "What happened?" I asked, crossing my arms.

"How did you even know I was in here?"

"Hunter," I replied.

Herman's face relaxed a little. "How is he?"

"He obviously saw a lot he wished he didn't. I'm surprised you actually took him with you."

The hedgehog sighed. "I didn't want to; he just kept nagging. Had I said, 'No', he just would have snuck along." Herman chuckled weakly. "But you know how that is."

"Yep," I grinned, thinking of Emily. "Anyway, how'd you even break your arm there? Hunter mentioned a giant robot, but that's all Pixie managed to get out of the poor kid."

"Giant robot," Herman smiled weakly. "That pretty much sums it up." His face fell serious. "It freed Dennis."

"What?!" I couldn't believe what I was hearing. "Dennis is on the loose AGAIN?!"

Herman nodded grimly. "'Fraid so, Perry."

I growled and pinched the bridge of my beak. Why couldn't he just stay put? "Well, thanks for the information, Herman. I'll let Major Monogram know, if the Warden hasn't told him already."

But first I had to tell my family.

 **(Michael's POV)**

Mom gently led Hunter to Major Monogram's office. Not seven minutes later, Dad came back. "Where's your mother?"

Just then, I spotted Mom coming back. "Right there."

Dad waved Mom over, and she sped up her pace. "So you talked with Herman?" Dad nodded. "What did you find out?"

"That giant robot Hunter mentioned?" Dad hesitated. "Well, Dennis has escaped the O.W.C.A-Traz again."

My eyes widened. "What?!" Dad just nodded grimly. I buried my head in my paws. "Oh, this is bad, this is really, really, REALLY bad."

Before anyone could reply, Ethan the eagle flew up to us, panting heavily. "Thank goodness you're all together."

"Ethan, what is it?" Mom asked.

"A huge robot just attacked the prison," Ethan explained breathlessly. "T-the prisoners... All three of them have escaped!"

… **.which ends in a cliffhanger! Again!**


	16. Chapter 15

**Alright, the beginning of this chapter is something for all you MichaelxChristine voters out there ;P ;P**

 **I DO NOT OWN PHINEAS AND FERB. ANY CHARACTER YOU DO NOT RECOGNIZE IS PROBABLY MINE**

 **(Michael's POV)**

My arms were wrapped around my knees as I sat in O.W.C.A's prison room, silently crying. The wall the "cells" had been on now had a gigantic hole in it. But I didn't care about that.

I cared that the cells were empty. Three of my old friends had been in there, and I had been hoping to reform them. That ship had sunk before it even set sail. Now they probably wouldn't ever change- that was almost set in stone. _Well, now you know how Dad and Mom felt when you escaped the O.W.C.A-Traz._

Someone slid down next to me. I glanced to my right, and Christine smiled at me, concern in her eyes. "How you doing?"

"I've been better," I admitted. I then brushed away a couple tears; Chris and I were close friends, but I still didn't want her to see me cry.

"So I can guess."

We were silent for the next few minutes. Then Christine spoke up again. "So you're fourteen now?"

"Yep. Chris, you were there for my birthday 'party'."

"Yeah," the she-cat blushed, "I just wanted to make sure. Fourteen is the beginning of the age-range, right?" She didn't say what age-range because she knew that I knew perfectly well what it was.

"Yep," I sighed again. "You're still thirteen, aren't you?"

Christine nodded. "I'll be fourteen in a couple months."

"Old enough to take a mate."

"Yep." Christine paused. "Are you going to get a mate any time soon?"

I blushed a deep shade of red. "N-n-no, I don't think so..."

"Ah. Do you have a crush on anyone?"

Now I blushed a deeper red. "Well, yes, but I'm fairly certain that she doesn't feel the same."

Christine's face had risen when I began the sentence, but it sort of fell again. "How do you know that she doesn't feel the same?"

I fell silent. _Um, the fact she basically tried to kill me is a subtle hint_. But I stayed quiet.

The she-cat changed the subject- sort of. "Well, is there anyone else you can think of who might love you?"

"Nope, can't think of anyone."

"Are you sure? Not even someone at O.W.C.A?"

I laughed. "Counting the fact practically everyone at O.W.C.A. hates me? I'm fairly certain I won't ever get a mate in O.W.C.A."

"Michael, I've already told you that not many agents actually hate you that much!"

"Yeah, only this agent, and that agent, and that other agent. You only named, like, thirty of O.W.C.A's agents! That's totally nothing."

Christine looked genuinely hurt, which made me feel bad for lashing out at her like that. "Has it dawned on you that maybe someone at O.W.C.A. cares about you as more than a friend, and YOUR obliviousness has ruined it?"

I blinked. Christine almost never got like that. "Ruined what?"

"A possible romantic relationship, Michael! A chance for you to feel like you're loved by more than just your family!"

Now I scoffed, which turned out to be a mistake. "Yeah, well, that'll never happen. Because no one cares about me like that, thanks to L.O.V.E.M.U.F.F.I.N."

"Someone does," Christine muttered, looking at the floor.

"Who?"

Chris stayed silent.

"Christine, who cares about me that way?"

I still didn't get an answer. "Chris, I deserve to know who! Who in O.W.C.A. has a crush on me?"

"ME!" Christine suddenly shouted. Then she froze. Her eyes widened, and she gasped before quickly covering her mouth with her paws.

 _What?!_ I couldn't believe what I was hearing. "C-C-Chris... Y-y-you..." But I couldn't get the words, "You love me?!" out of my mouth.

Tears came into Christine's eyes, but I couldn't tell if they were humiliation tears- she obviously didn't mean to tell me- or heartbroken tears- because it shocked me so much, and I hadn't even considered it until she told me.

The she-cat then ran out of the room. "Chris!" I called, standing up. But she was gone. I flopped back onto the floor again and buried my head in my paws with a moan.

 **(Pixie's POV)**

When I went to go check on Michael, he wasn't in his cubicle. I found my son in the prison room, instead. His head was buried in his paws. I sat down next to him and placed a paw on his shoulder. "Sweetheart, what is it?"

He just moaned and shook my paw off of him. "I don't want to talk about it."

I kissed my little boy's cheek. "Okay." Then I walked back to the cubicles and over to my mate's office.

Perry smiled up at me. "Yeah?"

Now I pulled up a chair and sat down next to my mate. He kissed my cheek. "What is it, Pixie?"

"Michael," I replied. "Something's wrong, but he won't talk to me."

"If he's not talking to you, what makes you think he'll talk to me?"

"Perry, you're his father. You can relate more to what he's going through than I can now." I pressed myself up against Perry and nuzzled his cheek with my beak.

"I guess you're right," my mate agreed.

"He's in the prison room," I murmured.

Perry kissed my forehead. "Thanks, sweetheart. I'll go check on him."

 **(Perry's POV)**

I got up from my chair and went to go check on Michael. He was lying on the floor of the room, his forehead resting on his paws. I laid down next to him. "Hey, buddy. You okay?"

"I can't stand this, Dad."

"Can't stand what?"

"Being fourteen. I bet there are hundreds of animals who look forward to reaching the mating range- I'm not one of them." Michael scoffed. "Since I've turned fourteen, Dennis has escaped, so have my three ex-best friends, and now I think my other best friend hates me."

"What happened?"

"Dad, I think that I unknowingly broke Christine's heart."

I blinked. "Oh?"

Michael moaned. "Apparently, Christine has had a crush on me for who knows how long."

That didn't surprise me. Pixie and I had known for some time now. "When was this?" I asked.

"About ten minutes ago."

I inhaled. "Michael, you and Christine have been best friends since you joined O.W.C.A. I don't think even this will break that friendship."

"But what do I do?" Michael moaned again. "I've got a crush on Courtney, but she obviously doesn't feel the same- not to mention she's not even here. Christine apparently has a crush on me, and I've always thought of her as a friend, but now that I know about her feelings, I might very well feel the same! I just don't know."

"Michael..." I hesitated. "I might be your father, but I can't tell you everything. I never went through anything like what you're going through; this is your life. It's your choice what you do."

My son sighed. "You're right. But do you have any advice?"

"That is my advice, Michael. You choose what you want to do. Your mother and I are only here to guide you; we don't make decisions for your life. Especially now that you're an adult."

 **(Michael's POV)**

Dad was right; I needed to do what I thought was best. I was about to reply when Major Monogram's voice came over the intercom. "All agents please go to O.W.C.A's meeting room for an emergency conference."

I immediately jumped to my feet, and Dad quickly followed. "Monogram must have finally processed all the news," he grinned.

"Yeah, I guess so."

When we reached the meeting room, all the rest of O.W.C.A's agents were also walking up to the doors- they actually had to form lines to get in the room.

"There you two are." A voice made me jump a little, even though it was extremely familiar. I whirled around to see Mom grinning at us. "Everything okay?"

Dad met her eyes; even though I had even been taught how to lip-read in L.O.V.E.M.U.F.F.I.N, I couldn't read the messages my parents sent each other through expressions. _It must be a mate thing_.

I quietly walked into the room behind my parents, trying to ignore the many hostile glares I was given. I had been part of O.W.C.A. for nine years, but I had been part of the Anti-O.W.C.A. for four. And none of the agents had ever forgotten.

Many of them didn't feel comfortable with me coming in to O.W.C.A's meetings because they thought I was a spy and going to "spill the beans" to L.O.V.E.M.U.F.F.I.N, so to speak. _Guess family roots don't matter when it comes to O.W.C.A._ But it was their problem because all agents- field, office, or guard- had to come to the meetings; whether good since birth or reformed evil.

Dad sat down at one end of the table. Major Monogram was already sitting at the other end, Carl standing next to him. Mom sat in the seat next to Dad, and I quietly slipped into my seat next to her, pulling my hat over my eyes, so I wouldn't have to see the glares of the O.W.C.A. agents.

When I finally mustered the courage to look again, I spotted Kiki and Peter. What shocked me was they were sitting on opposite sides of the table, much to Peter's dismay.

Pinky was sitting next to Daniel the dog. Daniel reminded me so much of Daisy I had to look away... And then I met Christine's eyes. She stared at me for a millisecond before her gaze turned away. I inwardly moaned.

Once all the agents were sitting- and standing, there weren't quite enough chairs for everyone- comfortably, Major Monogram stood up and cleared his throat. "I'm aware that you all know by now that not only has Dennis the rogue rabbit escaped from the O.W.C.A-Traz, but the three Anti-O.W.C.A. members who were in our prison here have also escaped."

There were several angry shouts of agreement from around the room, as well as several more hostile glances my way.

After everyone quieted down, the Major continued. "Agent H, could you describe exactly what happened at the O.W.C.A-Traz?"

I followed his gaze and spotted Herman the hedgehog. It relieved me knowing that he was allowed out of Katrina's office; he had his left arm in a cast and sling, but other than that he seemed fine.

"It was a giant robot," Herman began slowly.

"What's your definition of 'giant'?" Mom asked.

Herman met her gaze. "It was almost as large as the O.W.C.A-Traz itself."

At that, the room was filled with shocked gasps and murmurs. The only one I caught was, "But that building's huge!"

I looked to my right and saw Ethan the eagle's stunned and slightly scared face. Major Monogram noticed it, too. "Agent E?"

"That sounds exactly like the robot that broke out the three prisoners."

Kiki held her paw up. "Okay, if that thing really is ginormous, how did no one at the O.W.C.A-Traz hear it coming? In fact, how did none of US ever notice it came?"

"Maybe we're not as good as we think we are," Barry replied.

"Or maybe none of you are taking Dennis seriously enough!" I retorted sharper than I would have preferred. Everyone turned to me, and I immediately wanted to shrink into the shadows; I didn't like having the spotlight on me.

Peter scoffed. "What are you saying?"

"Michael, I've dealt with Dennis," Daniel spoke up.

"He gave you two broken bones," I answered. "I shared a JAIL CELL with him for a couple months- not to mention that I've known his daughter since I was an infant. You have no IDEA what he's like."

"Were you going somewhere with this?" Oliver the owl asked impatiently.

I shot him a glare. "Yes. If Dennis was behind the robot that broke him out, it's not at all a surprise none of us noticed it."

"What are you saying?" Maurice the mouse squeaked up hostilely from his spot on the table- actually "on", he was too small to sit in a chair. "There was a noise muffler on the robot, and it could turn invisible?"

"Very possibly," I replied.

"Okay, but who would have made the robot for him?" Bethel the bear inquired.

"L.O.V.E.M.U.F.F.I.N." I calmly leaned back in my chair, my fingers interlocked. "He IS their leader."

"What are you talking about?" Gideon the gorilla scoffed.

"Dennis has been puppeteering them for over a decade now," Dad spoke up. "It's not surprising that he subtly took control of them."

"But in order to puppeteer them he needs to have contact," Peter countered.

"Oh, he's had that covered for a long time," I grinned. "1. He's the one who originally came up with the Anti-O.W.C.A. plan in prison, and he managed to tell L.O.V.E.M.U.F.F.I.N. about it. That caused them to execute it.

"2. When I was in the O.W.C.A-Traz with him, he was perfectly calm. He knew the exact MOMENT at which we'd be rescued.

"3. Courtney-"

"Who's Courtney?" interrupted Barry.

"The white rabbit who was in prison here," I replied. "When I spoke to her a few weeks ago, she knew that Dennis was her father. Yet, Dennis never told her that when he was out of jail about ten years ago. Which means that he had contact with them over the past decade- how else could Courtney have found out?"

"That's really not good," Mom muttered. "Dennis has had contact with L.O.V.E.M.U.F.F.I.N. for fourteen years and none of us ever noticed?"

"So now that Dennis has escaped, does that mean he'll be grouping up with his L.O.V.E.M.U.F.F.I.N. buddies again?" Pinky inquired.

"It's what we have to assume."

"But where would they be? Where could someone hide a robot like that?" asked Mom.

Everyone was silent- you could have heard a pin drop.

Eventually, Major Monogram spoke up again. "Agent R, have you noticed any suspicious activity around Danville?"

Richard the raccoon thought for a moment. "There's been a lot of things going on near the abandoned warehouse," he said at last.

"What's up with villains and creepy, abandoned buildings?" Christine grinned. "It's almost like someone's trying to make us miserable or put us in a ton of danger or something."

"Agent Christine, please don't break the fourth wall," Major Monogram reprimanded.

"Sorry, sir."

Major Monogram then turned to Mom and Dad. "Agent P, Agent Pixie, after this meeting I would like you to go check the warehouse out."

Dad exchanged a quick glance with Mom. "Yes, sir," they said in unison.

"Sir," I began hesitantly, "what about me?"

The Major hesitated. "Agent Michael, if L.O.V.E.M.U.F.F.I.N's reforming, I don't think it's a very good idea for you to go with them. Besides, I must also work with my agents' comfort, and I'm aware many of them would not feel comfortable with you going on the mission."

Glares of approximately fifty percent of the agents seemed to bore into me, and I replied with a meek, "Understood, sir", before shrinking as far back into my chair as I could and staring at my lap.

I began nervously picking at the fur on my paw as the meeting continued. As soon as it was over and the doors opened, I practically leapt out of the room, eager to get out of the glare-range of the agents.

"Are you okay?" Mom asked when she and Dad were out.

Now I nodded. "Yeah," I replied, smiling forcefully.

Dad, who was standing behind Mom, gently wrapped his arms around her. "Pixie, we've got to get our stuff and go."

"Yeah, you're right."

"So do you have any idea how long you'll be gone?"

Mom exchanged a glance with Dad. "No, not really. But it sounds like it will be a longer mission than normal. We probably won't be back until late tonight, if we even get back- well, today."

I nodded in understanding.

"You sure you can handle watching you and Emily?" inquired Dad. I knew exactly why he was asking it; Dennis on the loose, L.O.V.E.M.U.F.F.I.N. reforming, etc...

"Yeah," I smiled. "I mean, there's also Lydia's family, and Linda and Lawrence, and Pinky's right across the street."

"Alright." Mom kissed my forehead and grabbed Dad's paw. "Let's get going."

"Stay safe." Normally, I wouldn't have said that, but they might very well have been going up against Dennis, L.O.V.E.M.U.F.F.I.N, and the Anti-O.W.C.A.

Dad hugged me. "Don't worry, we'll be back before you know it."

With that, they were off.

I turned to go find my little sister; she had vanished after Ethan told my family Daisy, Leo, and Courtney had escaped.

I found her in the gym. She was standing and staring at something or someone worriedly, her arms crossed. I followed her gaze. "Why are you watching Chrysalis?"

"She's just standing there."

Emily was right. The black and white fox was just silently standing off to the sidelines of the gym, staring dolefully at the ground. I saw several AITs walk up to her to see if she was okay, but she'd just snap at them, most likely telling them to mind their own business or something. It surprised me; I had never once seen Chrysalis like that before.

My little sister changed the subject. "So how did the meeting go?"

I shrugged. "Mom and Dad got sent on a mission. They probably won't be back till after you're in bed tonight; if they're even back today."

"Ah. And it's already late evening; are we going home now?"

"Yep."

"Can you get us home?"

I gave my sister a look. "Emily, Dad taught me how to fly the rocketcar when I became an agent."

Emily blinked. "Oh, right. Well, don't crash us."

At that, I playfully swatted my little sister's shoulder. "Let's go."

Honestly, my parents and their mission were near the back of my mind at that moment; maybe that was a mistake.

 ***gasps* Does something happen to Perry and Pixie? You shall not find out for a while, I am afraid… I:} I:} I:}**


	17. Chapter 16

**The story is coming closer and closer to the end. In fact, there are only two more chapters after this one, and one of them is the short epilogue! :D :D :D**

 **I DO NOT OWN PHINEAS AND FERB. ANY CHARACTER YOU DO NOT RECOGNIZE IS PROBABLY MINE.**

 **(Michael's POV)**

When I woke up the next morning, Mom and Dad weren't back yet. That worried me a bit, but I ignored the little bit of anxiety worming its way into my thoughts and woke my little sister up.

Emily wasn't happy about it. "Michael," she complained, "Mom and Dad aren't here. The one day we don't have to go in at normal time, you wake me up?"

"Whether they'll admit it or not, O.W.C.A. needs my help," I replied irritably. "Especially since Dad's busy right now."

"Fine, whatever."

Another reason I wanted to get to HQ at normal time was because of my class. Major Monogram was trying to keep the AITs calm, and, so, despite the present situation we were in, he wanted me to continue the class.

 **(Emily's POV)**

The class was fairly normal. If you didn't count the fact that all the AITs were nervous because they had heard what was going on or the fact that something was up between Michael and Christine. Not to mention that Chrysalis was either quieter or more snarky than normal. Other than all that, the class was perfectly normal.

"What's up with your brother and his friend?" Hunter whispered.

I shrugged. Michael and Christine WERE acting strange. Christine was hanging further away from my big brother than normal, and Michael continued to glance over at her, a dismayed look in his eyes. Luckily, I think I'm the only one who noticed it- the dismay, that is.

 _Mental note: bug Michael about what's wrong between them after class._

 **(Michael's POV)**

I hadn't managed to fall asleep until practically midnight last night. I had been trying to figure out how to resolve what had happened between Christine and I. Still hadn't solved it.

Reminding myself of the class, I tore my gaze from the she-cat and looked back at the group. Emily was giving me a concerned look; Hunter was standing on her right, looking confused, and Chrysalis was on her left, staring miserably at the floor- like yesterday. What was wrong with her?

"Anyway," I continued slowly, the lesson basically over, "just a little review. Who was the Major before Major Monogram?"

Emily knew this by heart; that's why she was the first to answer. "Major Michael," she grinned.

I couldn't help but grin as well. Major Michael had apparently been basically a second father to Dad. It was at least fifty percent of the story behind my naming. "That's correct."

I asked a few more questions and then the lesson was over. All the AITs except Emily scattered, and Christine left almost as quickly. I was about to stop her when I realized I still had no clue what to say. Did I just see her as a friend, or had her telling me her feelings changed mine?

 **(Emily's POV)**

I cornered Michael after class. "What's up between you and Christine?"

"None of your business, Emily."

Crossing my arms, I held a steady gaze with my brother. "My big brother looks miserable; I think I can get involved."

"Emily-"

"I thought we told each other everything."

Michael sighed, knowing I trapped him. "I'll tell you later, okay?"

"Fine," I muttered, remembering that he could be as stubborn as Mom and I. "I'm gonna go see if Mom and Dad are back yet."

With that, I practically skipped out of the gym and over to the agents' side of the building. The door to Dad's office was closed, but he kept it closed both when he was there and when he wasn't, so that didn't really help. Instead, I peeked my head into Mom's cubicle. Nope, she wasn't there.

I decided to try knocking on Dad's door although, if he wasn't there, I had no interest in knocking on the door to an empty room and standing there like an idiot waiting for a reply.

Luckily, I was saved from the waiting part because Agent R- Richard the raccoon- walked up to me when I knocked. "You won't get an answer."

"They're not back yet?" I asked incredulously. "But Michael said Major Monogram gave them the mission during the meeting yesterday, and it's been practically twenty-four hours since then!"

Agent R sighed. "Look, Emily, I'll tell you what I do know. I followed your parents to the warehouse- so they knew they were going to the right place- and hid among the trash cans across the street. I saw them enter the warehouse, but I didn't see them leave."

"And how long were you out there?"

"All night."

Now I was worried. "A-alright. Well, thanks."

I immediately turned to find Michael and ran off.

 **(...)**

My big brother was still in the gym, cleaning up. "Yeah?"

"Mom and Dad aren't back yet, and it's been almost twenty-four hours since they left!"

Michael's eyes widened. "They're missing?"

"That's what it sounds like," I retorted.

"Okay, well, I have to finish cleaning up. Then I'll talk with Major Monogram, alright?"

"Alright." I ran back out of the gym to find Pinky. I couldn't wait for Michael to talk with Major Monogram; I needed to do something right then.

"Pinky?" I ran into the chihuahua's cubicle.

Pinky smiled at me. "Emily, what is it?"

"Mom and Dad are missing."

"What?!" Pinky practically leaped off his chair. "They're missing?"

I nodded eagerly. "Come on, we need to do something!"

The chihuahua paused. "Emily, did Major Monogram give his okay on this?"

"Well..."

Pinky crossed his arms. "Emily, I'm not going anywhere without Major Monogram's permission."

"I will!" I retorted. "I'm perfectly willing to go by myself."

"You won't go without a field agent," Pinky said sternly.

I crossed my arms. "Says who?"

"Says me."

"You're not my dad."

"Your father is apparently missing right now, so if you won't listen to your brother, you'll listen to me."

I growled and stormed out of his cubicle. My face brightened when I saw Michael walk up to me. "Well?"

"The Major's in another meeting right now; you'll have to wait until it's over."

Inwardly, I moaned. "How long?"

Michael glanced at his watch. "About two more hours."

"What?! We can't wait that long!"

"Emily, we have to."

"But you and I could go together, right?"

"If Mom and Dad couldn't, we wouldn't be able to handle it. I may know how to fight, but I'm only an office agent. And you're only an AIT. We'd need a field agent to help us, and none of them will without Monogram's permission."

Michael sighed then continued. "Honestly, I don't know how many would help me even with his permission."

I glared. "So, basically, you're not gonna help our PARENTS."

"It would only end disastrously, so, no. And I don't want you going by yourself, either." Michael gave me a stern look with that. "Now, I'm going to go do something. You stay here in HQ. Got it?"

"Whatever,' I muttered darkly, glaring at the floor.

"Got it?" Michael asked again, this time more roughly.

"Fine, yes! I've got it!" I then stomped off out of the maze of cubicles. I couldn't believe him!

 **(Michael's POV)**

I sighed and shook my head sadly as I watched Emily storm off. I wanted to help Dad and Mom, but if Dennis was the problem, Emily and I wouldn't be enough.

Then I shook my head to clear it. While I had been cleaning up after the class, I managed to- temporarily, at least- sort my feelings out, and I wanted to talk with Christine before my mind changed again. I began walking to Christine's cubicle.

The she-cat's head was resting on her desk, and her arms were serving as a bit of a pillow for her head. I heard quiet crying, and it killed me a little. "Hey, Chris," I murmured.

Christine immediately looked up, her eyes red. She brushed her tears off. "Yeah?"

"Christine, I'm sorry I didn't ever notice your feelings for me- I'm especially sorry you had to tell me." I felt a little like a jerk, honestly.

"It's fine."

"No, Chris, it's not, and I feel awful." I scoffed. "All these years, I never noticed. And I called myself a close friend of yours, too."

Christine smiled, which made me feel a bit better. "At least we were friends. Now, if you hadn't even recognized me as a friend, that would have driven me, well, insane." We both chuckled.

"Chris, you've always been such a close friend of mine. Even though you've always known my past, you're the only one who's always been there. You've been my best friend practically my whole life, and I'm really, truly grateful."

The she-cat blushed. I paused and hesitated. "But... But here's the thing. We've been friends for so long that it's hard for me to see you as anything more than just a friend. My best friend, maybe, but I can't really see you becoming anything more than that to me, not really. For a bit, I thought I did, but then I realized that it was probably just the little voice inside me that I got when I turned fourteen."

Christine gave a soft chuckle of understanding. "I get it."

"But I really don't want this to ruin our friendship," I continued, holding my paw out to her. "So what do you say? Just friends?"

When Christine didn't meet my eyes or shake my paw, I got worried. "When I accidentally told you my feelings yesterday," she began quietly, "I was so worried that I'd ruined our friendship. I was worried that you'd hate me. I was scared that you didn't return my feelings, but that it would be too awkward for us to go back to friends."

I relaxed when Christine met my eyes, beamed, and shook my paw. "So I am perfectly fine for us to be just friends." And the best thing was that her grin, her light-hearted tone, none of it seemed forced, so I knew she was telling the truth.

Now I pulled my best friend into a hug, grinning. I hadn't lost my closest friend.

 **Do not despair, Michael/Christine fans! It may seem bleak for you right now, but who Michael ends up with (if anyone) is not set in stone until the epilogue I:} I:} I:} I:}**


	18. Chapter 17

**Alright, the only chapter after this is the epilogue! So this is the entire climax chapter- PAY CLOSE ATTENTION xP xP xP**

 **I DO NOT OWN PHINEAS AND FERB. ANY CHARACTER YOU DO NOT RECOGNIZE IS PROBABLY MINE**

 **(Michael's POV)**

After I finished up with Christine, I went to go check on Emily to make sure she was okay. I knew she hated just waiting by, doing nothing, when our PARENTS were in danger. I hated it, too.

Emily wasn't in the gym, but that didn't really bother me. _She's probably in Mom's cubicle or Dad's office pouting._

A feeling of dread crept into me when she wasn't in either of those places. Now I just began searching all of HQ. No sister anywhere.

I moaned. "Oh, Emily, please tell me you didn't..." I couldn't finish the thought. Was my little sister really so impulsive that despite my warnings, she still left to go and rescue Mom and Dad?

Richard walked by me, and I held my arm out in front of him to stop him. "Where's the warehouse?"

The raccoon blinked. "What?"

"The warehouse," I repeated. "The warehouse Mom and Dad were sent to."

"Why would I tell you? I don't recall Major Monogram sending YOU on the mission. In fact, I think he told you not to go with them."

My eyes narrowed. "It's not a mission. Where's the warehouse?"

Richard crossed his arms. "What, are you going to use a L.O.V.E.M.U.F.F.I.N. technique on me to get me to talk?"

Normally, I'd calm myself down, so my L.O.V.E.M.U.F.F.I.N. side didn't show as much, but my family was in danger, so I didn't care. "Maybe I'll have to," I growled, my teeth clenched. "Now, where's the warehouse?"

The raccoon obviously sensed the seriousness in my voice because he then told me what I needed to know. I let him pass by, ran to my cubicle to grab a couple small gadgets I got when I became an agent, and took off.

 **(...)**

It was already dusk when I left, and it got darker and darker the closer I got to the warehouse. When I reached the warehouse, stars were already coming out.

I quietly climbed up the warehouse to the top window close to the ceiling. I peeked through the window and blinked in surprise. The warehouse was large and open- it was all one giant room.

Then I spotted Dad and Mom. They were tied to small poles sticking up from the ground- the poles were small enough they had to be on their knees. That certainly made it harder to escape.

My eyes narrowed when I saw Dennis. He was standing in front of Mom and Dad, smirking and obviously talking to them, though I had no clue what he was saying. In a horizontal line behind Dennis were Courtney, Daisy, and Leo.

 _But where's Emily?_ I risked getting closer to the window to see more and looked to my left. There she was. My little sister was trapped in a cage similar to that in which Prof. Rodenstein trapped me and Kiki. Great. So much for the quick, rescue-and-leave-and-come-back-with-backup  
plan I made on the way over.

I silently opened up the window to try and hear a bit of the conversation. "It's amazing that position doesn't hurt you by now," Dennis was saying to Dad.

"Well, apparently, I was in this position for practically forty-eight hours nine years before," Dad replied calmly. "So I guess I'm used to it."

"You were unconscious for, like, ninety-eight percent of that," Dennis retorted.

Dad smirked. "And you probably wish it was more than that."

Dennis' smile faded and grew respectively as he spoke again. "Maybe, but you only managed to escape because of her." He pointed at Mom with that. "But now she's trapped as well, and your little girl over there can't rescue you now."

"I have a name, you know," Emily muttered.

"I know," smirked Dennis.

"Besides, you don't have Michael yet," my little sister continued.

Dennis immediately pointed at her and snapped his fingers, startling both Emily and me. "That reminds me! This chit-chat isn't any fun without your big brother, is it? So come on down, Michael! I know you're up there!"

My eyes widened, but I did climb through the window and landed gracefully on my feet on the floor- despite the length of the fall. "How'd you know?"

"Well, for one thing, it may be dark outside, but your fur doesn't exactly blend in with the dark bluish black of the sky. And, for another..." Dennis pointed to the corner of his eye.

He then turned around to look at me, and his eyes widened. "Well, you've certainly matured."

I slowly moved into a fighting stance, aware that not only Dennis was here, but so were Courtney, Daisy, and Leo, who were staring at me.

"And I thought you looked like your father nine years ago," Dennis continued with a grin. I was silent as Dennis' contorted smile changed into a smirk. "Anyway, it looks like you fell for the trap. You're so gullible, kid."

Dennis paused. "Oh, wait. I guess I can't call you a 'kid' anymore, can I? You're growing up...and falling in love." Dennis smirked again, although his eyes were narrowed. "With my daughter."

 **(Emily's POV)**

Michael's eyes widened. "How did you know?"

"Why, Courtney told me, of course." I glanced over at Courtney with that. _How did she find out?_

What surprised me was that she didn't have the same smug look on her face that Dennis did. It almost seemed like...like regret. "And now I can use that weakness to crush you," continued Dennis. "Literally!" His tone was disgustingly light.

"Don't you dare hurt him," Mom growled.

"Bit late for that, isn't it, Pixie? But you needn't worry; I hear the dead don't feel anything."

I inhaled sharply as Dennis said, "Maybe after I get rid of him, I'll kill your precious daughter, too, just to see your faces." With that, he walked over to my cage.

I looked at Dennis as calmly as I could, and tried to cover up the fear that was washing over me. "You're a monster." Unfortunately, the waver in my voice gave away my fear.

"Aw." Dennis bent down to my eye level. "Flattery ain't gonna get you out of this mess, sweetheart," he sneered.

"The problem with planning ahead is you've got to focus on the first step before you can do anything else."

At Michael's voice, Dennis stood up straight again and looked at my brother as he continued. "You can't hurt me."

Michael was right; Dennis was evil, and, if Michael had been raised by L.O.V.E.M.U.F.F.I.N, then he knew how Dennis, Courtney, Daisy, and Leo thought and fought. He would probably be able to take them- maybe.

"Maybe not alone," Dennis agreed as he walked back over to Michael, "but I have this."

Leo handed him something, and I could tell it was a rifle after Dennis took hold of it. My eyes widened.

"Guns aren't your style." Since I was behind Dad, I couldn't see his face, but I was sure that his eyes were wide.

"Oh, there's a first time for everything." Before even Michael could react, Dennis rammed the butt of the gun into his head, knocking Michael to the ground, unconscious.

"Michael!" Mom and I screamed.

"Don't worry, he's not dead," sighed Dennis exasperatedly. "Just unconscious. The real fun is the shooting." He grinned and cocked the gun. "Now, say goodbye to your son."

 **(Daisy's POV)**

I had to cover my mouth with my paws to stifle a gasp. Dennis was going to kill him?! I glanced over at Courtney. Why wasn't she doing anything?! "Are you really going to let your dad kill Michael?" I whispered.

"Michael's the enemy."

"He didn't use to be."

"But he is now."

I couldn't believe what I was hearing. "Couldn't you save his life? In honor of our old friendship?"

Courtney turned to look at me. "'The past is past, forgive, forget'. Remember that part of the song? What better way to forget than for him to die?" There was hesitance in her voice and facial expression which were well hidden. I only noticed them because  
we had been friends for so long.

"Courtney, he used to be our best friend!" I hissed.

"Well, he's not anymore." Courtney went back to staring at Michael and her father. "He lost that when he betrayed us." She turned to look me in the eye again. "Are YOU gonna do anything?"

I hesitated. I really didn't want Michael to die, but if I betrayed the Anti-O.W.C.A. by myself, I'd only lose two friends and gain one. Not to mention that I'd most likely just die as well. "Not unless you do."

"Good." I couldn't believe she was saying that. "Leo, what about you?"

Leo glanced over at Courtney and I. "I'll only stop him if the two of you do."

 **(Courtney's POV)**

I relaxed with the knowledge that Daisy and Leo wouldn't do anything without me. I sure didn't want to lose them to my dad as well as Michael. Based on what they were saying, it also sounded like they'd follow my lead- which was perfect.

Daisy was right. Michael had been our best friend. I used to want to be just like Dad, but if that meant I had to kill my ex-best friend, then I didn't want to anymore. And if killing was necessary to be evil- if permanently losing your best friend- was  
what was needed, then I didn't even want to be evil. I did want to be friends with Michael again- at least friends, anyway. Honestly, I had a crush on Michael since before he had even turned good.

Those thoughts changed me, and I made my move before my mind changed again. The next few minutes seemed to go in slow motion. Dad aimed the gun toward Michael, his finger resting on the trigger. Pixie and Emily shouted something, and Perry struggled to  
get out even more than earlier.

Before I could stop myself, I stepped in between Dad and the gun and Michael, who was still lying unconscious on the ground. "No."

"What?" Dad forced a bitter smile. "Courtney, darling, move out of the way."

"No!" I repeated more forcefully, my heart beating at light-speed. "I won't let you hurt him! If you want to kill him, you'll have to kill me, too."

Daisy was beaming. She walked over to my left side. "And me."

"And me." Leo came to my right.

Together, the three of us almost blocked Michael completely from Dad's view. His eyes were wide with shock, but his mouth was in a scowl.

I heard the smirk in Perry's voice. "You wouldn't shoot your own daughter, would you, Dennis?" I was scared, honestly. Dad might very well have been willing to kill me if he had to.

There was silence for a few minutes. Then Dad growled, "Traitors!" and stormed out of the room. I was wincing; "Traitors" had a surprising amount of darkness, and it made me feel guilty.

But as soon as I was sure he was gone, I whirled around to face Michael and sat on my knees. "Michael!" I shook him roughly. Daisy and Leo, meanwhile, got to freeing Pixie, Perry, and... What was her name? Emily?

I got worried when Michael didn't wake up. "Michael!" I pressed down hard on his chest- no, it was not attempted CPR, I was just hoping it would jerk him awake. "Michael!"

Pixie got down next to me; she obviously was just as worried. "He's not waking up?"

"Not even stirring."

Daisy gulped. "D-do you think h-he's... You know..."

Perry shook his head. "Dennis only hit Michael. That wouldn't have killed him."

"But Dennis did hit Michael really hard," replied Pixie quietly, "not to mention the fall to the floor. Do you think it was enough to knock Michael into a...a coma?"

Michael's dad was silent. Oh, no! I pushed on Michael's chest again; he didn't stir. I was now worried enough that tears were beginning to form. I began jostling Michael. "Come ON, Michael! Wake up, wake up, wake UP!"

My voice's pitch was rising, and, by the end of my shout, I was hitting him. I felt a paw on my shoulder. "Courtney."

I glanced over at Pixie as a new thought came to my mind. "Wait... Why aren't you fighting us?"

Pixie smiled. "Maybe you've been against us for a while. But you and your friends just proved your loyalties- they're to Michael and your friendship."

"It's been a war in all three of our minds for a while now," I admitted.

"Wait, what about Dennis?" I heard Leo ask. "He's just out there; he could attack at any moment."

"No, he couldn't," Emily sang. Everyone whirled around to her, and she smiled sheepishly. "I might have stolen Michael's phone when I snuck over. Dennis didn't know I had it, so he didn't take it from me. I texted HQ for backup."

She then gestured out the window with her thumb, and I noticed the two cars outside. A tall man in an olive-green shirt stood outside, his hands behind his back. Then I spotted Dad. He was now in one of the cars- both of which said O.W.C.A- behind bars.  
It both relived me and stabbed my heart guiltily.

I turned my attention back to Michael and shook him again. "Michael! Michael, please!"

My heartbeat had accelerated, but it calmed again as soon as Michael stirred a little. "Michael?"

His eyes fluttered. "Courtney?"

"It's me," I beamed.

Michael smiled before his eyes closed again, and I placed my head up against his chest. His heart was still beating.

Emily was peering through the window. "Katrina's also outside; that's her car."

"Good thing," commented Pixie.

I grinned as Daisy and Leo sat down next to me. I now had all four of my friends again. I HAD unexpectedly betrayed my dad, but it was for friendship. And that was great.

 **YAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAY!**

 **And that may have seemed like the cliché romance climax, but, actually, Courtney made the decision she did completely out of friendship ;P ;P Same with Daisy and Leo**


	19. Epilogue

**Epilogue time! And I think I'll be posting its sequel tonight, so… Yay! xD xD Now you can find out who Michael ends up with :D :D**

 **I DO NOT OWN PHINEAS AND FERB. ANY CHARACTER YOU DO NOT RECOGNIZE IS PROBABLY MINE**

 **(Michael's POV)**

I sat in Katrina's office. She was working on something over by the counter; Dad was standing next to me.

"I need you to tell me what you remember," Katrina said, turning to me.

"We were all in the warehouse," I thought aloud, turning to Dad. "You, Mom, and Emily were all trapped. I tried to save you, but Dennis hit me, and everything went black."

"You were knocked out," Dad replied.

Realization struck me. "He was holding a gun. I should be dead!"

"But you're not," Katrina stated with a smile, turning around again.

I looked back at Dad. "What happened?"

Dad smiled and pointed through the window. "They happened."

I followed my father's finger with my eyes; Daisy, Leo, and Courtney were standing outside the office, talking with Mom and Emily.

"What woke you up, Michael?" I turned away from the window and back to Katrina.

I glanced at Courtney. "I don't know."

 **(Courtney's POV)**

A party. Dad was back in jail, and we were having a party.

That's not why I was celebrating; I was celebrating because Daisy, Leo, and I had finally joined the right side. And because Michael was okay.

We were at his house. There were streamers decorating the entire downstairs, and music was playing in the background. I had just stopped talking to Daisy, and turned around.

I saw Michael talking with Perry. They hugged, and then Michael walked over to the screen door, opened it up, and walked outside.

"Go talk to him," said a voice behind me. I turned around, and Christine smiled at me.

I nodded and ran outside. Crickets chirped as the stars twinkled in the night sky, and Michael was leaning against the house. He smiled when he saw me.

I grinned and walked over to him. We were silent for a minute.

 **(Michael's POV)**

"I lied to Katrina," I said suddenly, breaking the silence that had come between Courtney and me.

Courtney looked over at me. "What?"

"I said I didn't know what woke me up. I do." I looked over at Courtney. "I heard your voice. That's what woke me."

 **(Courtney's POV)**

I let out a tense, nervous giggle, not knowing how else to respond. _Oh, gosh._ I was well-versed in evil, not romance. "Really?"

Michael continued talking. "The last thing I remember before I blacked out was your father holding a gun at me. Dad filled in the blanks. He said that you, Leo, and Daisy stepped in front of me. You wouldn't let your father shoot me without him shooting you, too." Michael turned over to me and looked me in the eye. "You saved my life."

I blushed. "So did Daisy and Leo."

Michael backed up to his original position against the house's wall. "I know."

 **(Michael's POV)**

We were silent a bit longer before I spoke again. "So we're all on the same side again. The right side, this time."

"Yeah," Courtney nodded.

"We can form our gang again," I grinned. "Except, this time, on the good side."

 **(Courtney's POV)**

I inhaled nervously. "Is that all we're ever gonna be? Just friends?"

Michael looked at me and- _did he just blush?_ "Do you want to be something more?"

"Only if you do," I said immediately.

 **(Michael's POV)**

I blushed again and placed a paw on her cheek. Courtney's normally white fur was tinted red. She placed a paw on my arm.

Before I knew what was happening, we kissed.

At first, I was worried that she was just playing along, like Dad warned me once. But I quickly figured out it was genuine; she truly returned my feelings.

That kiss made me realize something. I wanted to spend the rest of my life with her.

 ***sniffles* just yesterday I was writing PERRY as a little kid. Now his son's in love! *breaks down into tears, then takes a deep breath in and stops crying* Get a grip, Nightflame.**

 **And, yes, I went with MichaelxCourtney in the end ;) MichaelxChristine is cute, but not as cute, in my opinion. And I actually had planned out this ending with MichaelxCourtney before I even finished Three Platypi and an Evil Organization. In fact, I had planned years ahead with MichaelxCourtney before I even created Christine! So I knew who Michael was going to end up with this whole time; I only added MichaelxChristine in to give it more drama xP**

 **No, no, do not cry, agentlabrat xD xD xD xD**

 **And, in case anyone was confused, the party took place the night after the last chapter**


End file.
